


Synthetica

by slincoln



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Gen, Punching, Team Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-05 23:17:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12199395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slincoln/pseuds/slincoln
Summary: Kara Danvers's friend from Gotham is visiting National City, and by strange coincidence Batgirl is in town as well.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All the characters contained in this story are the proper of DC Comics, and Warner Brothers. No infringement is intended.
> 
> Summary: Kara Danvers's friend from Gotham is visiting National City, and by strange coincidence Batgirl is in town as well. 
> 
> Spoilers: This takes place sometime in the middle of season two of Supergirl, but it doesn't really matter.

Barbara Gordon walked through National City International Airport with a laptop bag slung over her shoulder and pulling a rolling carry-on bag behind her.  She came to a stop at the baggage claim and waited for the rest of her luggage to arrive.  She lifted off the heavy rolling suitcase when it slid across the conveyer belt.  Barbara struggled a little as she dragged her luggage out of the terminal and into the pick up area.  She pulled a cellphone out of the pocket of the light jacket she wore and dialed a number in her contacts.  As she stood amongst the throng of people with her phone up to her ear she heard a voice calling her name from behind her.  She turned and saw Kara Danvers standing there.

“Barbara, I’m so glad you’re here!”  Kara said.  The two women shared a hug after closing the distance between them.  

“It was lucky the annual library science convention was in National City this year,” Barbara said.  “Thanks so much for letting me crash at your place.  It’s saving me a ton of money in hotel fare.”

“I’m happy to do it for a friend,” Kara said.  “Can I take your bag?” 

“Be careful, it’s…” Barbara’s voice trailed off when Kara grabbed Barbara’s suitcase and swung it around like it was weightless. “…heavy.  Right, that’s right.”

“What?”  Kara asked.

“Nothing, I just forgot what it’s like to be around you is all.  By the way, where are you parked?”

“Parked?”  Kara asked.

“You know, your car, how you got here.  Did you take an Uber or…” Barbara paused. “Oh no, Kara, no.”

“Come on, follow me.”  Kara grabbed Barbara by the hand and dragged her off to a quiet corner of the arrivals area.

“Kara, this is a bad idea.”

“No it’s a great idea.  Traffic is awful this time of day, but I fly we can get back to my apartment in no time.  And don’t say you’re afraid of heights because we both know it’s not true.  Now hop on my back,” Kara said to Barbara.  “You know what, maybe I should take that carry-on bag too.”  Kara pulled the smaller bag out of Barbara’s hand.

“Have you ever done this before?”  Barbara asked as she draped her arms across Kara’s shoulders and clasped her hands together.

“What?  Oh sure, all the time, I’m practically a taxi service at this rate,” Kara said.  “Are you ready?”

“Are you sure we can’t talk this over first?”  Barbara asked Kara.

“It’ll be fun, trust me.  Just, er, hold on tight.”  Kara pushed off the ground then shot straight up into the sky before arcing and flying off in the direction of her apartment.

* * *

“Well, here we are,” Kara said to Barbara as she landed in her apartment.  Barbara let go of Kara and staggered away from the Kryptonian.  She placed a hand on Kara’s dining room table to steady herself.  “Are you okay?”  Kara asked  Barbara.  She took a step towards her, but Barbara waved her off.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.  I just need a moment.  I’ve never flown like that, obviously, and I just need a moment.”  She pulled in several large gulps of air.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t intend to make you feel sick,” Kara said.  “I probably should’ve flown a littler slower, I tend to show off a little too much.  Can I get you anything?  A glass of water, dramamine?”

“No, that’s not, I’m already feeling better,” Barbara said.  She forced a smile onto her face.

“Are you sure?”  Kara asked.  “You’re still looking a little green around the edges.

Barbara shook her head.  “No, I’m fine, everything is fine.”

A smile broke out across Kara’s face.  “Good, I’d hate for you not to feel well on your visit.  Especially because of something I did.  If you are feeling better then we can go meet Alex and the others at the bar.”  She turned to start walking towards the door to her apartment.

“Kara, you understand I really am here for the conference right?”  Barbara asked.  “It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you or your friends, because I do, but I also need to devote most of my time at the conference.  I have a poster session about database searches, and if that goes well it could open a lot of doors for me whenever I manage to finish my degree.”

“Right, of course, I get that.  Your career outside of the cowl is important to you.  That makes perfect sense.  I get that, I mean I really get that.  Some people say they get something they they really don’t, but that’s not this.  I understand completely.  And now I’m babbling.”

“But I do want to spend time with you as well,” Barbara said.  “In fact I’m counting on you to tell me where all the good places to eat are.”

Kara clapped her hands together.  “Oh I can definitely do that, especially the places that are cheap and give you lots of food.”

“Quantity over quality isn’t the only thing I’m looking for, but I am on a per diem so cheap is good.”

“I don’t know about you, but after a night of crime fighting, I’m always in the mood for a big breakfast.”  Kara paused and looked worried.  “You, er, did bring your suit right?”

Barbara shifted on her feet.  “I did.”

“I sense a but in that statement.”

“But I’d rather not have to wear it while I’m here.”

“Because you’re here as Barbara Gordon, not as Batgirl,” Kara said.  She twisted her hands together then squared her shoulders.  “Which is fine, that’s fine.  I totally didn’t expect we’d go out on patrol together.  Besides, it would be like when my friend from the alternate universe, Barry, first visited, and Ms. Grant figured out he was the Flash.”

“I still don’t believe that story by the way.”

“Barry is real,” Kara said.  She stamped her foot on the ground.  “I did not make him up.”

“Do I even have to tell you how many girls I went to high school with who said the same thing about the Canadian boyfriends they met on the Internet?”

“I can prove he’s real.  The last time I went to Earth-1, Barry’s friend Cisco gave me a device that let’s me talk to him.  Even go visit whenever I want.  I could use it and show you the alternate Earth.”

“That’s okay, I have no desire to leave this reality,” Barbara said.

“Plus, all my friends have met Barry, you could ask them.”  Kara frowned.  “Except you can’t because that would require telling them you know I’m Supergirl and if they knew that they they’d ant to know why I told you, which would require telling them you’re Batgirl, and I bet you don’t want to do that.”

“True I don’t,” Barbara said.  “Even if I did ask them though I still wouldn’t believe you, because it annoys you so much.”

Kara frowned at Barbara.  “That’s not something a real friend would do.  Anyway, as I was trying to say, if Batgirl shows up in National City at the same time you do then its pretty obvious who Batgirl really is.”

Barbara rested a hand on her hip.  “Kind of like how anyone paying attention might have put two and two together about the appearance of one Kara Danvers and Supergirl in Gotham?”

“Exactly, except nobody did notice, possibly because you didn’t introduce me to any of your friends.”

“Most of Barbara Gordon’s friends don’t know that she’s also Batgirl.”

“That is so sad.  And I’m not just talking about you referring to yourself in the third person.  You need a support structure.  You can’t do everything on your own.”

“I have a support structure, you even met part of it.”

“I wouldn’t consider him to be much of a pillar of support,” Kara said.

“You say that, but you’d be surprised,” Barbara said.  “In any event, you are not going to tell your friends about what I do, I’m not going to tell my friends about what you do, and everyone is happy.”

Kara nodded her head.  “I don’t know about everyone being happy, but that is what we agreed on.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page.  Now I could use a drink, before that short, terrifying flight I had a long, draining flight.”

“Good, I know just the place,” Kara said.

“And Kara, one more thing,” Barbara said.  “No flying, we take a Lyft.”

“What?  Oh, right sure, of course, we would’t want to raise any suspicions now would we?”  Kara winked at Barbara.

“Right,” Barbara said as she produced her smartphone and started to tap on it.  “That’s it precisely, I don’t want to raise suspicion.”

* * *

Across town at the same time a large man dressed in a trench coat and hat walked into a jewelry store.  One of the store’s clerks noticed the man’s arrival and tutted to herself at the man’s disheveled appearance. “Excuse me sir, can I help you find something?”

The man looked at the clerk and grinned.  The clerk couldn’t be certain, but she was sure she saw a metallic glint in his eyes.  “Oh I’ve already made up my mind,” the man said.  There was an artificial rasp to his voice. “I’ll take all of it.”  He raised his fists and then brought them down, smashing the display case with inhuman strength.

“Hey you can’t do that!”  The store’s security guard shouted.  He ran over to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder.

The man shrugged out of the guard’s grasp, then shoved him backwards into another display case.  He then glared at the clerk who backed away from the robber.  He reached down and picked up a collection of jewelry from the display case.  The robber turned and walked towards the door.

“Stop right there or I’ll shoot!” The guard shouted at the robber.  The robber looked back at the guard but did not stop moving towards the door.  The guard fired several shots at the man.  Both hit him square in the back, causing him to stagger, but not stop.  The guard fired again, but still had no effect on the robber.  After exiting the store the robber leapt up and vanished from sight.  The guard ran out of the store but couldn’t see any sign of the robber.  He looked up and down the street, scratching his head in confusion.

* * *

Kara lead Barbara into the alien dive bar.  Kara looked around and spotted Alex, Maggie, James and Winn seated  near the pool tables.  Kara waved at Alex and started to walk over to them.  “Remember, don’t stare,” Kara said to Barbara as they walked by a blue-skinned alien.

“I won’t lie and say I’m used to seeing aliens, but I am capable of being diplomatic,” Barbara replied.

Alex stood up from the table when she saw Barbara and Kara approach.  “Kara hi, who’s this?” She pointed at Barbara.

Kara held out her hands to present Barbara to the table.  “Alex, everyone, this is my friend Barbara Gordon from Gotham.  We met at that Bruce Wayne charity event I covered for CatCo.  She’s in town for a work conference and I offered to let her stay at my place while she’s here.  Barbara, this is Alex, my sister.  Maggie, her girlfriend, Winn Schott, and James Olson, my friends.”  She pointed out each person seated at the table.

“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you,” Alex said.  She held out a hand to Barbara.

“The feeling is mutual,” Barbara said as she shook Alex’s hand. “Though that’s hard to tell from the tone of your voice.”

“I’m just a little surprised is all.  Kara never said anything about you when she got back from Gotham, and normally she tells me everything.”

“That’s because I exaggerated a little,” Kara said.  She stepped in between Alex and Barbara.  “Which isn’t to say we aren’t friends, or are complete strangers.  I want to write a piece about Gotham for the magazine that included the thoughts of a Millenial who lives in Burnside, to go alongside my interview with Bruce Wayne, and Barbara is a Millenial who lives in Burnside.”

“I have my conference this week, and Kara offered to let me stay at her apartment in exchange for an interview,” Barbara said.  “Considering the price of a hotel room in National City that seemed like a good deal,” Barbara said.  She picked up on the cover story Kara intend and fleshed it out more.

“Any friend slash interview subject is a friend of mine,” Winn said.  “Take a seat Barbara Gordon.”

“Kara, can I talk to you for a moment?”  Alex asked before dragging her away from the table into a quiet corner of the bar.

“Alex what is the matter with you?”  Kara asked. She shrugged herself out of Alex’s grip.

“What’s the matter with you?”  Alex replied.  “Why didn’t you tell me about this Barbara person?”

Kara set her hands on her hips.  “I did.”

“Saying this morning, ‘Hey Alex I’m off to pick up someone from the airport,’ as you’re headed out the door doesn’t count.”

Kara scowled at her sister. “Do you tell me about everyone you meet?”

“I’m not Supergirl,” Alex said.  Her eyes narrowed.  “Wait a minute, the only person you mentioned meeting in Gotham…”

“You mean other than Bruce Wayne?”

Alex rolled her eyes.  “Yes, other than Bruce Wayne.  Batgirl, you talked my ear off about Batgirl.”

“You think Barbara is Batgirl?”

“I think you only have one friend who lives in Gotham and her name is Batgirl.”

Kara adjusted the frames of her glasses.  “That’s nonsense, you’re just mad because I didn’t tell you about Barbara’s visit sooner.”

“Does she know that you’re Supergirl?”

“What?  Of course not.  You heard her, we don’t know each other that well.”

“But well enough you’re letting her stay at your apartment?  Don’t you think that will make your life more than a little difficult?”

Kara waved a hand to dismiss the complaint.  “She’ll be at her conference for most of the time she’s in town.  It won’t be a problem.”

Alex stared at Kara.  “This is a bad idea, and I still say she’s Batgirl.”

“It’s a perfectly fine idea, and she is not,” Kara said.  She placed her hands on Alex’s shoulders, spun her around, and pointed her towards the table the others were seated at.  “Now go make nice with Barbara.  She’s nice, you’ll get along with her if you stop being such a grouch.”

“Okay, okay, you win.  I’ll try to be nice,” Alex said.

“I knew you had it in you,” Kara said.  She wrapped her arms around Alex and hugged her sister from behind.

“Yeah well she’s Batgirl,” Alex said.

“You realize the odds of that being true are phenomenally small right?”

“If you can be Supergirl she can be Batgirl,” Alex said.  “But I promise I won’t go digging.  Protecting her real identity obviously means a lot to you and I’ll respect that.”

“Thank-you Alex, that is so magnanimous of you.”

“Is everyone looking at us?” Alex asked Kara.

“No, in fact they all seem to be very interested in talking to Barbara, your girlfriend in particular.”

Alex frowned.  “We can’t have that now can we?”

“You should definitely go mark your territory.  Though Maggie would hurt you if you tried and I don’t think Barbara is a lesbian.”

Alex slowly rubbed her hands together.  “I am not marking my territory.  I just want to spend time with my girlfriend.”

Kara nodded her head  “Which you absolutely should go do, and not worry about the identity of masked vigilantes.”  Kara started to push Alex towards the table.  

While the sisters argued, everyone else at the table had their attention turned to Barbara.  “Tell us a little about yourself Barbara,” James said.

Barbara shrugged her shoulders.  “I’ve lived in Gotham most of my life.  I’m currently studying library sciences and I eagerly await the day I have to explain the Dewey Decimal System to a bunch of loud school kids.  I’m already practicing my shushing skills.”

“You know, speaking strictly for myself, librarians are hot,” Winn said.  He then looked around the table.  “What, is there something wrong about finding knowledge attractive?”

“Say, aren’t you the famous photographer?”  Barbara asked James.  “The one who took all the pictures of Superman?”

“Yep, that’s him, Superman’s pal James Olson,” Winn said.  He clapped James on the back.

“Currently I’m the acting CEO of CatCo Worldwide Media,” James said.  “I’ve hung up my camera for the moment.”

“That’s too bad, you have a great eye.”

“Thanks, it’s always nice to meet a fan.”

“You said you met Kara at a Wayne Foundation charity event,” Maggie said.  “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“What was a student like me doing at a fancy party like that?”  Barbara asked.  “It was my dad’s invitation, but he had better things to do with his time.”

“Gordon, say your dad isn’t Jim Gordon is it?”  Maggie asked.

Barbara nodded her head.  “That’s him, do you know him?”

“I used to work in Metropolis so I met him a few times.  Good man, great cop.”

“I think he’s great at both, but clearly I’m biased.”

“Did you ever think about following your dad into law enforcement?”

“It’s…not for me,” Barbara said.  “Which is good because my dad banned me from ever getting a job in law enforcement.  Do you know any other members of the GCPD?  We might have a few friends in common.”

“Not really, there are people I met at conferences, task forces things like that, but I wouldn’t say I was ever friendly with any of them,” Maggie paused.  “And I hate to say it because I know what a good cop your dad is.”

Barbara folded her arms in front of her.  “Go ahead, I’ve heard it all before.”

“What?”  Winn asked.  “What have you heard all before?”

“The GCPD had a reputation for being one of the most corrupt in the country,” Barbara said.  “There was even a lot of truth to it at one point.”

“Before her dad became commissioner and cleaned up the department,” Maggie said.  “Still, old stereotypes die hard.”

“That’s wow, I did not know that.  James, did you know that?”

James traced the rim of his pint glass.  “I did, I’ve been to Gotham a few times on assignment for the Planet.  It was eye opening.”

“Gotham’s come a long way,” Barbara said.  “Especially neighborhoods like Burnside which are almost as snobbish as Metropolis.”

James grinned and rubbed his hands together.  “Oh is that how it is now?”

“That’s how it is,” Barbara said with a nod.  She then looked around the bar.  “What does it take to get a drink in this place?”

“Just wait until Kara sits down,” Alex said as she returned to the table and sat back down next to Maggie.

“Wait, what was that?”  Kara asked as she sat in the seat next to Barbara.

“Oh nothing,” Alex said.  “Barbara was just complaining about how slow the service is here.”

Kara frowned.  “Really?  It’s always been very prompt for me.”

As if on cue Mon-El appeared next to the table holding an empty drinks tray.  “I see more people have arrived.  Kara can I get you your usual?”  Kara nodded in response.  Mon-El turned his attention to Barbara.  “You’re new,” he said.

“Barbara, this is Mike,” Kara said.  “He grew up in the town next to mine and moved to National City a few months ago.”

“Nice to meet your Mike,” Barbara said.

Mon-El held the tray close to his chest then bowed.  “Any friend of Kara’s is a friend of mine.  What can I get you?”

“Vodka tonic with lime please,” Barbara said.

“Excellent choice and everyone else, another round?”  There was a chorus of nods around the table.  “Great, I’ll be right back.”

Alex looked over at Barbara.  “What did I tell you.  Have Kara around and it’s instant service.”  She snapped her fingers together.

“Oh!” Barbara said.  “Are you and, er, Mike was it?  An item?”

Kara’s face turned red.  “No, it’s, it’s complicated,” she said then looked everywhere in the bar that did not include Mon-El.

“Ah one of those, my condolences,” Barbara said.

“What about you Barbara?”  Alex asked.  She leaned forward in her seat.  “Have anyone in your life?”

“Anyone that I am dating, or would describe as complicated?”

Alex shrugged then took a large drink from her glass.  “Either one.”

Kara leaned in between Alex and Barbara.  “You don’t have to answer her if you don’t want,” Kara said.

“No that’s okay Kara.  I’m not currently dating anyone, the last guy turned out to be an awful techbro.  Yes, there are certainly people I would describe as complicated, headed up by I guess you could call him my high school sweetheart.  We had a falling out, then he moved to Bludhaven.  We still see each other from time to time but,” she shrugged.  “It’s complicated.”

“To complicated,” Alex said.  She raised her mostly empty pint glass.  “If nothing else they teach us things about ourselves we never knew we were capable of.”

“I’m not completely sure that’s a good thing, but I’ll drink to it,” Barbara said.  “As soon as my drink gets here at least.”

“In that case bartender to the rescue,” Mon-El said.  He began passing out the drinks on his tray.  “Club soda for the regular, vodka tonic for the newcomer.  And you’ll be happy to hear that I finally go the proportions right.”

Barbara eyed the highball glass in front of her.  “What were you getting wrong about it?”

“Nothing major, just the ratio of vodka to tonic.  Not that many people were complaining.”

Barbara took a sip of her drink then nodded her head.  “I can’t possibly imagine why anyone would complain about that, but this is perfect.”

Mon-El’s face broke into a smile.  “I’m so relieved to hear that.”  He handed out the rest of the table’s drinks.  “Just holler if you need anything else.”

“He seems eager to please,” Barbara said.

“Ohs Mike’s a great guy,” Winn said.  “Lots of fun to be around.”

“He’s trying to be a better person,” Kara said.

“He wasn’t before?”  Barbara asked.

“It’s,” Kara started to say, then closed her mouth as she searched for the right word.

“Complicated, I get that,” Barbara said.

Before Kara could reply Maggie’s cellphone rang.  She answered the phone and had a brief conversation before looking over at Alex.  “Sorry babe, that was work.”

“What’s wrong?”  Alex asked.

Maggie sighed.  “Some creep robbed a jewelry store downtown.  They think the perp was enhanced somehow so Science Division gets called in to work it.”

“Do you need help?”  Alex asked.  She glared over at Kara was was listening in on their conversation intently.  She then glanced over at Barbara who was talking to Winn while fidgeting with her slice of lime.

“No I think I can handle a simple snatch and grab robbery on my own,” Maggie said.  She kissed Alex on the cheek then stood up.  “If I do need anything you’ll be the first to know.  Sorry for bailing like this, but it was nice to meet you Barbara.”

“No need to apologize, I’m a cop’s daughter remember?  I know what the job requires.”

“And Maggie is a good cop,” Kara said.

Alex watched Maggie walk out of the bar.  “That she is.”

“What did you mean when you offered to help her?”  Barbara asked Alex.

“I work for a federal law enforcement agency, and that is all I can say about it,” Alex said.

“Jewelry store robberies, must feel like home to you,” James said.

“It’s a little different since Batman probably would’ve stopped the robber before he got away,” Barbara said, then took a sip from her glass.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but National City has its own masked vigilante now,” James said.

“I hadn’t,” Barbara replied.  James’s shoulders sagged.  “But then again I am very busy working on my degree so I don’t read a lot of news.”  

“He calls himself Guardian,” Winn said.  “He has a cool costume if you ask me, and a kickass shield.”

“Well if you ask me, anyone who puts on a mask and goes out at night to fight crime has to have something very wrong in their brain,” Barbara said.  “Taking those kinds of risks is crazy.”

“Does that include Batman?”  Alex asked.

“Especially Batman.”

Alex raised an eyebrow.  “And Batgirl?”

Barbara took a sip of her drink before replying.  “Her too, yep.”

Kara looked around the table.  “Maybe let’s not talk about which superheroes are crazy.  I mean you wouldn’t say Supergirl is crazy.”

“Obviously she’s not.  She’s bulletproof.  She and Superman are the only people who make sense as superheroes,” Alex said.

“Let’s not go overboard here,” Kara said.  “She’s just one person after all, a heroic, selfless person, but one person nevertheless.  She can always use assistance.”

“I say they’re all out there putting other people’s lives ahead of their own,” James said.  “So that makes them heroes in my book.”

“That I can agree with,” Kara said.  “To heroes of all shapes and sizes, if they wear a cape, a mask, or a badge.”

“Hear hear,” Winn said.  “I can drink to that.”  He clinked his glass together with Kara’s.

“Alex, Barbara, James, get in here,” Kara said.

“We better do what she says,” Alex said.  “You know how she gets, and at least this time she isn’t trying to hug everyone.”  She and James both raised their glasses.

“Don’t leave me hanging here Babs,” Kara said.

Barbara sighed and touched her glass to Kara’s.  “To heroes.”

“So Barbara, when we’re done here are you going to sample National City’s nightlife?”  Alex asked.  She eyed the younger woman over her glass.

“At some point, maybe,” Barbara said.  “It is how you get a sense of a city, but not tonight.  I have to get my internal clock readjusted.”  She stifled a yawn.

“I’ll be curious to hear what you think of it,” Alex said.

“I’m sure it won’t be all that different from Gotham.  Excitement mixed with danger if you go to the wrong part of town.”

While Alex and Barbara talked about bars and nightclubs, James looked over at Winn and gave him a nod.  Winn rolled his eyes but returned the nod.  “Barbara it was nice to meet you, but I should be heading home,” James said.  He stood up from the table.  “Big budget meetings at CatCo tomorrow and I need to make sure I have all the numbers right.”

Winn also stood up.  “He’s, uh, my ride.”  He waved goodbye to Alex, Barbara, and Kara then followed James out of the bar.


	2. Chapter 2

Maggie walked up to the police tape lined entrance of the robbed jewelry store.  She surveyed the damage to the exterior of the store then ducked under the tape line and walked through the broken door.  Once inside a uniformed officer approached her.

“Hey detective, sorry for calling you in on your night off, but this looks right up your alley.”

“No nights off when you’re a cop.  What have you got for me sergeant?”

The sergeant walked Maggie over to the smashed display case,  “This guy walks into the store and smashes the display case, grabs the merchandise, and runs away.”

“Okay, so why call me?”

“Because when the security guard tried to stop him he got tossed him across the room like a rag doll by our perp.  Then when the guard used his firearm, the perp shrugged off three shots to the back like they were nothing.”

“He could’ve just been really strong and wearing a vest,” Maggie said.  “Our the witnesses are exaggerating what they saw.”

“I thought that might be the case too, then I saw the security footage.”

“Then let’s see the footage.”  Maggie, the sergeant, and the store’s manager walked back into the store’s small back office.  The manager cued up the store’s surveillance footage and Maggie watched the events of the robbery unfold.  “Okay, I’m convinced.  There’s no way that’s a regular human.”

“This is so distressing,” the manager, a short, nebbish man dressed in a well-tailored suit, said.  “Why would an alien rob us?”

“It might not be an alien,” Maggie said.  “There’s no end of enhanced humans out there.”  She watched the robbery again and frowned.  “What’s wrong with the playback?”  When the robber’s face was visible there was a pixelated blur over it.

The sergeant shrugged his shoulders.  “Every picture and video of the robbery is like that.”

“He must’ve had some sort of distortion field, clever.”  She turned to face the manager.  “Sir, I’m going to need a copy of this recording.”

The manager nodded his head.  “Of course, of course, anything you need.”

“I’ll also need a list of everything that was stolen.”

“We already have a preliminary list put together,” the manager said.  “There is one thing though.  The robber left some extremely valuable pieces behind.  Not to say what was stolen was costume jewelry, but the truly expensive pieces are still here.”

“So either he didn’t have time to grab them, or he was targeting something specific.  When you’ve finished your full inventory send it along to the station,” Maggie told the manager.  “Don’t worry sir.  We’ll do everything we can to find the person responsible for this, bring them to justice, and hopefully return your merchandise.”  Maggie walked out of the office and back onto the shop floor.  A team of forensic specialists were combing the crime scene for evidence.  “Find anything yet?”  She asked the lead tech.

“There’s no blood on the wreck of the case, which is impressive considering how much glass there is.  The only blood seems to be the security guards.  We’re dusting for prints obviously, and all the other usual clues.”

Maggie nodded her head as she surveyed the room.  She stopped when she caught sight of something under one of the store’s display cases.  Maggie pulled a latex glove out of the pocket of her blazer..  She reached down and picked up the object.  She held it up to the light and saw that it was a broken piece of circuitry.  “Do you think this came from a display case?”  she asked.

The tech took the circuitboard from Maggie and examined it.  “No, it most certainly did not.  In fact I have no idea what it might be.”

Maggie took the circuitry back and placed it in an evidence bag.  “Fortunately I know some people who might be able to figure this out.  You don’t mind if I take this do you?”

The tech shrugged his shoulders.  “It’s your case Detective Sawyers, you can do whatever you want with it.  Without compromising the investigation of course.”  Maggie raised an eyebrow at the tech’s statement.  “But you don’t need me to tell you that.”

Maggie slid the evidence bag into the pocket of her blazer.  “Let me know if you find anything else.  No matter how odd or insignificant.  With these enhanced cases you never know what might be important.”  She turned on her heels and walked out of the store.  She pulled out her cellphone and dialed Alex’s number.  “Danvers, I need you help.  Meet me at the DEO?”  

* * *

The next morning Kara walked into the DEO command center wearing her Sueprgirl costume.  “Maggie, what are you doing here so early?”

“Consulting about the jewelry store robbery last night,” J’onn said.  “Agent Schott, play the tape for Supergirl.”  Winn nodded and called up the security footage of the robbery.  Kara winced when she saw the security guard tossed into the display case.”

“So who is he, an alien, another Cadmus flunky?”  Kara asked.

“My guess is enhanced human,” Maggie said.  “I found a chip at the crime scene, and as you can see the perp is using some sort of tech to hide his face.”

“Winn is going to analyze the evidence Maggie found and see if he can clear up the interference on the video,” Alex said.

“Yep, and in between that I’m going to write my memoirs, an appreciation of an overworked analyst,” Winn said

“Nobody likes a whiner Winn,” Alex said to Winn.

“Alex, stop being so mean to Winn,” Kara said.

“He knows I don’t mean it,” Alex said.  “Besides, I owe him some payback for what he did to my computer wallpaper last week.”

“Do you need my help with anything?”  Kara asked J’onn.

J’onn placed his hands on his hips.  “Not right now Supergirl  When we do we’ll let you know.”

Kara nodded her head.  “Good, there’s a whole team meeting this morning at CatCo I don’t want to miss.  Snapper gets grumpy if I’m not at staff meetings.”

J’onn smiled.  “We don’t want that. Go to your meeting.  We’ll still be here when you get back.”

“You’ll call me if this guy shows his face again?”

Alex put her hands on Kara’s shoulders and spun her around.  “Even on the best of days Snapper isn’t your biggest fan.  You don’t want to antagonize him any more than is possible.”

“I have,” Kara glanced over at a clock.  “Ten minutes until the meeting starts.  That’s plenty of time.”

Alex folded her arms across her chest.  “In that case how is your houseguest?”

“Houseguest?”  J’onn asked.

'Yes sir, Kara has a friend from Gotham staying with her,” Alex said.

J’onn stepped alongside Alex and also crossed his arms in front of him.  “I was unaware that Kara had a friend in Gotham.”

Kara scowled at the two DEO agents.  “I am allowed to have friends outside the DEO, and trust me, Barbara is not a threat to anyone.  She’s just a librarian, in town for a conference.”

Winn held up his hand.  “I checked, it’s legit.  There is a librarian’s conference this week, and Kara’s friend is giving a talk about optimizing search methodology, which I have to admit sounds super interesting.”

J’onn let his arms fall to his side.  “Well that settles that then.”

“Sir, J’onn, I don’t trust her.  There’s something about her I don’t trust.”

Maggie put her hand on Alex’s arm.  “I know her father, he’s a good man,”

“See, Maggie trusts her.  Listen to your girlfriend.  Now I really have to go, or I will be late.  I’ll check in after my meeting.  Love you bye.”  With a rush of air Kara sped out of the DEO, sending every nearby loose piece of paper flying.

“I hate it when she does that,” Alex said.

* * *

After a long day of dealing with Snapper Carr’s foul moods as she tried to pitch him a story story about a high school science fair, Kara landed inside her apartment.  Winn had yet to make progress tracking down the person responsible for the robbery.  Which meant she had the evening to herself.  Relishing the rare of moment of alone time Kara kicked off her shoes and walked into her kitchen.  She poured herself a glass of red wine, took a large drink and sighed.

“Rough day?”  Barbara asked from behind Kara.

Kara shrieked and dropped her wine glass.  “Oh Rao Barbara, I completely forgot you might be here.  How did you sneak up on me like that?  Don’t sneak up on me like that.  I could’ve punched your head off.”

“You entered your apartment without first checking to see if it was empty?”  Barbara asked.  “You have x-ray vision, you have literally no excuse for being caught by surprise.”  Barbara leaned against a cabinet.

“That’s, but, that’s, it’s my apartment and I am not paranoid.”

Barbara shrugged.  “If you want to get jumped by a Kryptonite-wielding Cadmus thug then be my guest.  If I had x-ray vision I would never be caught off guard.”

Kara pulled a paper towel off of the roll to mop up the spilled wine on the counter.  “I didn’t realize having you stay here would turn into superhero school.”

“It’s not, but I’m also not going to apologize for ‘sneaking up’ on the alien with enhanced senses.”

“Sorry, sorry, I had a rough day at work.  My boss didn’t think the story I want to write about a girls in STEM fair deserves more than eight hundred words.  Hello, diversity in STEM is a really important issue that deserves more column space..”  Kara sighed, then filled a new wine glass.  She filled another glass and handed it to Barbara.  “And the worst part is the DEO still hasn’t figured out who was responsible for last night’s jewelry store robbery.”

“Wasn’t there a security camera?”

“The robber did something to the camera that obscured his face,”  Kara said.  “We think he’s using tech to enhance himself.”

“That sounds expensive, do you have a list of people with the resources needed to do that sort of work?”

Kara rubbed her chin.  “I don’t, but the DEO, or Maggie, probably does.  I mostly leave the investigative stuff to them.  They tell me who to punch and I do the punching.”  She set down her wine glass. “Or you could help me do the investigating.”

Barbara took a step away from Kara.  “We talked about this.  Unless there’s an emergency I’m not putting on the costume.  There are too many people out there who could connect Barbara Gordon to Batgirl.”

“But you are Batgirl, don’t you feel a need to solve this crime?”  Kara asked.

“Are you, the DEO, and the NCPD not up to the task of stopping a simple jewelry store robber?”  Barbara replied.

“Sure we are, but wouldn’t it be more fun if we had another team up?”  Kara asked.  “You know, like we did when I visited Gotham?”  Kara took a step towards Barbara.  “And who cares if Alex and Winn find out you’re Batgirl.  They work for a top secret government agency.  They know how to keep secrets.  They know mine and Superman’s after all.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust your friends Kara.  It’s that the majority of the people in my life do not know that I’m Batgirl, and it doesn’t feel fair to them that your friends would know the truth before they do.”

“That’s a silly reason.  We could use your help finding the robber,” Kara said.

“I’m happy to consult, and be a sounding board for you, but I repeat, unless it’s an end of the world emergency I’m here to be me, not Batgirl.”

Kara sighed.  “If you think that’s what’s best for you.”  She picked up her wine glass and finished it off with one swallow.  “I’m going to check in with Alex at the DEO and see if she has any updates.  If you change your mind give me a call.”  She brushed past Barbara on her way out of the kitchen.

Barbara looked down at her wine glass.  “Good going Babs,” she said to herself.  From the living room she could hear Kara fly out of the apartment.  She walked into her bedroom and sat down on the bed.  She stared at her luggage and drummed on her thighs with her fingers.  Barbara exhaled deeply then walked over to her suitcase and opened a hidden compartment revealing her Batgirl costume.  “Kara, I hate you so much.”

* * *

“Tell me again why I’m here?” James asked.  He stood in an alley across the street from a jewelry store dressed in his Guardian suit.

“I looked at the list of items stolen from the other store.  This store you’re standing outside of has the most of the types of gemstones taken.  I figure that makes this store the most likely target for the next robbery,” Winn said to James over the radio.  He sat in the support van staring at a display showing him the police scanner and the feeds from satellites and CCTV.

“That’s as good a reason as any,” James said.  He checked the status of his shield as he waited for something to happen.

“Guardian, Guardian, heads up somebody is coming your way,” Winn said.  On his monitor he saw a tall man dressed in a long trench coat and wide primed hat walk towards the store.

“I see him,” James said.  He tensed in anticipation as he watched the man approach the store.

The man lifted a metal trash can from a nearby alley off the ground and advanced on the storefront.  James emerged from his hiding place.  He raised his arm and fired a grappling hook at the trash can.  The hook embedded itself inside the can and James yanked back on the line.  The can jerked out of the robber’s hands and clattered to the ground.

“Hey, if you want something, buy it like everyone else,” James told the man.  He raised his arm and triggered his shield.

The robber, whose face was obscured by his hat reached down and picked the trash can back up.  “You made a mistake trying to stop me,” he said in a heavily distorted voice.  He threw the trashcan at James who raised his shield in time to block the can.

The force of the impact staggered James.  By the time he gathered himself the robber was charging him.  James was unable to get his shield up and the robber crashed into James, driving him into the ground.  James gasped in pain and punched the robber in the ribs to try and force him off.  Each blow felt like he was punching a brick wall.

“Hey James buddy, use your taser,” Winn said over the radio.  He stared at the feed from the camera built into the Guardian suit.  He frowned when he saw the same interference around the robber’s face as was on the security footage from the day before.

“Taser, right,” James said.  He jabbed his right hand in the robber’s side and triggered the taser build into the gauntlet.  The electrical jolt forced the robber off of James and he scrambled to his feet.

The robber’s next attempt to charge at James was stymied by two batarangs exploding in his face.  There was a flash of purple and Batgirl swept in front of James and kicked the robber in the head knocking off his hat.  Barbara used the force of the impact to propel herself backwards.  She twisted in midair and landed next to James.

“Is that Batgirl?”  Winn asked over the radio.

“Good to see you Batgirl,” James said.  “What brings you to National City?”

“Happened to by passing by and saw that you needed a hand,” Barbara said.  

“Thanks for the assist, but I had this under control.”

Barbara glared up at James.  “Sure you did.”  The robber, who Barbara could now see was a man with a heavily scarred face and shaved head, raised his arm and pointed it at Barbara and James.  The tips of his fingers started to glow.  “Get down!” Barbara shouted.  She launched herself into James and knocked him to the ground as a blast of energy shot over them and blew up a light post across the street.

When they got back to their feet the man had vanished.  “Winn do you have eyes on him?”  James asked.

“Negative Guardian, he’s completely vanished.  And also more powerful than we previously thought.”

“So is this National City amateur hour or what?”  Barbara’s voice broke in over the radio.

Winn’s eyes grew wide and he started to frantically type on his keyboard.  “Wait, she can hear us?  How can she do that?  This is a secure connection.”

Barbara cocked her head to one side as she looked up at James.  “Do you want to tell him or should I?”

James heaved a sigh then toggled on his radio.  “She’s Batgirl, why are you at all surprised?”

In the distance Barbara could hear the sound of sirens approaching.  “We need to talk in private.  Have any recommendations?”

James nodded in the direction of Winn’s van.  “Right this way.”

Winn jumped out of his seat when the back door of the van opened and he saw Batgirl follow James inside.  “What is she doing here?”  He asked James as he pointed at Barbara.

“She wanted to talk.  This was the closet place to do that,” Hames said.

“Yeah but she can see my face.”

Barbara crossed her arms in front of her.  “I don’t need to see your face to know who you are.  Your radio discipline is terrible.  Piece of advice, always use codenames when on coms.  Even if you’re the man in the van.”  She smiled at Winn.  “You never know who might be listening in.”

“Ah right, I’ll keep that in mind,” Winn said.

“Relax, I don’t care who you are.  I just want to see the person responsible for that thing out there brought to justice.”

“What do you mean by thing?”  James asked.  “We just fought a person.”

“A person someone went through a lot of effort to construct,” Barbara said.  She walked over to the computer next to Winn, elbowed him out of the way and started to type on the keyboard.

“Hey wait, you can’t do that,” Winn said.  “It’s very sensitive equipment.”

Barbara made a so-so motion with her hand.  “It’ll do.”

“Okay, I can put up with a lot, but insulting a man’s mobile crimefighting command center is downright rude.”  Winn walked over to the other side of the van.

“What are you doing?”  James asked.

“Calling up the CCTV footage of you getting your ass kicked,” Barbara said.

“I did not get my ass kicked,” James said.  “It was a draw.”

“Whatever you say champ,” Barbara said.  “That’s not the important part.  Look at how he moves, how he fights.  This is not a man in control of his own actions.  It’s like he’s been programmed.”

“Wait, what, are you sure of that?”  Winn asked.  He walked back over to the computer display and stared at the video.

“Trust me, I’ve spent enough hours looking at video of body language to know what I’m talking about,” Barbara said.  “Somebody cut this man open, loaded him up with tech, and set him loose on National City.”

Winn looked over at James.  “Do you think it’s Cadmus?  They have a lot of experience with cybernetics.”

“It’s possible, but what’s the angle?  Cadmus is about killing aliens, not knocking over jewelry stores,” James said.

“Do they need an angle?”  Winn asked.  “These days if people see someone do something a human can’t they think alien.  Maybe Cadmus is trying to sow mistrust.  Or maybe with all their recent setbacks they need quick cash or resources.”

“If that were true then you would also expect to see Cadmus publicly blaming aliens for the robberies,” Barbara said.  “Cadmus is a political organization and these robberies are not political in the slightest.”

“Do you think you could maybe turn off the voice modulator?”  Winn asked.  “It’s really grating to listen to.”

Barbara looked up at Winn and smiled.  “I will when your friend Guardian does.”

James looked over at Winn and shrugged.  “Sorry man, looks like everyone gets to keep their secrets tonight.”

“This is going to be highly aggravating,” Winn said.

“We all have our crosses to bear,” Barbara said.

“Look, I’m just not very comfortable with somebody else sitting in front of my computer, do you think you could maybe let me sit there?”  Winn wrung his hands together and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“Worried I might break your precious toys?”  Barbara asked.

“No, I’m worried about what you might do with unfettered access to my systems,” Winn said.

“If I let you sit here will you stop whining and focus on the task at hand?”  Barbara asked.  From where he was standing James started to chuckle.

“Yes, yes just let me sit in front of the computer.”  Winn wrung his hands together.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to cause you any distress,” Barbara said.  She slipped out of the seat and Winn moved in quickly to take her place.  He started to type on the keyboard.  “I didn’t place any backdoors into your systems if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“You’ll just have to pardon me if I don’t take your word about that,” Winn said.  “I wouldn’t be a good hacker if I did.”

James leaned over to Barbara.  “Did you really plant a virus in Winn’s computer?”  He asked in a quiet voice.

“No, but he doesn’t need to know that,” Barbara said.  Besides, it’s good OpeSec practice.”

James glanced over at Winn who was muttering to himself as he typed.  “That’s, okay, fair enough.  So how do you know so much about Cadmus?”

“I read a lot,” Barbara said.  “Trust me when I say that it’s somebody else.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but you are a stranger coming into my city, telling me about a criminal organization I’ve fought, and you haven’t.”

“Welcome to everyday of my life,” Barbara said.

“Oooh, you got superherosplained,” Winn said as he kept his attention focused on his computer.

“I just mean, how do you know so certainly that this isn’t Cadmus?”

“If proof is what you want have your little buddy take us to the DEO.  I can give you the proof you need there.”

Winn spun around in his chair.  “The DEO, what do you mean the DEO?  I have no idea what you could possibly be referring to.  Guardian, do you have any idea what she is talking about?”

Barbara rolled her eyes.  “Give it up.  I hacked your comms when Supergirl was in Gotham.  I know you work for the DEO.”

“Is there anything you don’t know?”  

“The real identity of Superman,” Barbara said.  “How many licks it takes to the center of a Tootsie-Pop.”

“The big mysteries of life then,” Winn said.

“Exactly, now are we going to the DEO or not?”  Barbara asked.

Winn looked over at James who shrugged.  “Okay, we’re off to the DEO.”  He pushed himself out of his seat and walked to the front of the van.

“This should be fun,” Barbara said to James as the van started to rumble down the street.  “I’ve never been to a top secret government agency before.”

“You said you don’t know who Superman is,” James said.  “Does that mean you know who Batman is?”

Barbara smiled at James.  “I didn’t say that did I.”

“No, but the implication is there,” James said.  “If you didn’t know who Batman is then you would’ve included that in the list of things you don’t know.”

“Or maybe since we’re in Supergirl’s city I mentioned the hero with a connection to her.”

“Is that how it’s going to be then?  You’re just going to play like you don’t know?”  James asked.

“Know what?” Barbara said.

James smirked at Barbara under her mask.  “Well all right then.  Let’s go talk to the DEO.”


	3. Chapter 3

“I still say she shouldn’t be here,” Alex said to Kara and J’onn.  The three of them stood in the back of the DEO command center watching as Barbara and Winn typed information into the mainframe.  James had left shortly after they pulled in to the DEO building claiming he didn’t feel comfortable around the “government types” but in actual fact he did not want to run into Kara.

“Batgirl is a good person Alex,” Kara said.  “And a skilled investigator.  She’ll be a tremendous asset to our investigation.”

“If Supergirl says she can help who am I to say no?”  J’onn said to Alex.

Alex threw up her hands in disgust.  “We have an unknown civilian in the center of a top secret facility.  You’re a telepath, read her mind, find out who she really is.”

“She knows how to keep a secret.  She is Batgirl after all,” Kara said.

“If I think she poses a risk to the DEO I will probe her mind.  But I refuse to do that to satisfy your curiosity Agent Danvers.”  J’onn dropped his hands to his sides and walked over to where Barbara and Winn sat.

“Trust me Alex, we can trust her.”  Kara put a hand on Alex’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze before joining J’onn.

“Your problem Supergirl is that you are too trusting,” Alex said.  

“She’s right you know, you are too trusting,” Barbara said without looking up from her typing.

“Believing in the basic kindness of people isn’t wrong,” Kara said.

“People don’t have basic kindness, but it’s nice that you still think they do,” Barbara said.

“What exactly are you and Agent Schott working on?”  J’onn asked Barbara to get the conversation back on track.

“Er Batgirl is helping me put together a sketch of your mystery thief because we can’t get a picture of his face,” Winn said.

“I have a photographic memory,” Barbara said.  She hit enter on her keyboard and a digital sketch of a scarred face appeared on the main display.  “He might have tech to defeat a camera, but not the human eye.”

“Run that face through every database we are connected to,” J’onn said as he pointed at the screen.  “The sooner we figure out who he is the sooner we can close this case.”

“Batgirl, er, has a theory about that,” Winn said.

J’onn looked at Barbara.  “Let’s hear it then.”  

“I think that man is a tool of whoever is actually behind these robberies,” Barbara said.

“You mean he’s a henchman?”  Kara asked.

“More like a drone,” Barbara said.  “Programmed to rob those stores by whoever built him.

“That would explain a lot,” Alex said.  “So this is the work of Cadmus?”

“I don’t think that’s likely,” Barbara said with a shake of her head.  “Like I told Winn and his Guardian buddy, Cadmus is a political organization, and these aren’t political acts.”

“But Cadmus has the experience in cybernetics required to do this,” Alex said.

“That’s extremely limited thinking,” Barbara said.  “Cadmus isn’t the only group exploring cybernetics these days.  There are plenty of researchers who could do similar work.”

“It can’t be that big a list, even if it’s more than Cadmus,” Kara said.  She walked behind Barbara’s chair and stared at her monitor.

“For starters there’s L Corp,  Lord Tech, Wayne Enterprises, and a score of startups trying to get bought up by one of the big fish,” Barbara said.

“In that case we had better start searching,” “J’onn said.

“Aye aye boss,” Winn said.  “It’s, uh, going to take a while to find everyone who is doing research into cybernetics.”

“Then let the computer do the work and get some rest,” J’onn said.  He turned and faced the others.  “And that goes for the rest of you as well.”

Barbara stood up from her chair and started to walk to the door.  “Good, in that case my job is done here.”

Kara ran after Barbara.  “You’re not going to help us capture the person responsible?”

“I already did, and besides, I get the impression I’m not very welcome.”  Barbara nodded in Alex’s direction.

“What, no, you’re welcome, you’re very welcome.”  Kara glared at Alex.

“Supergirl, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but there isn’t anything more I can do to help.  You’ve got the composite sketch, you know where to look to track down the cybernetic tech, and there are other things I need to do.”

“Can I call you if we need your help again?”

“Supergirl need my help?” Barbara chuckled.  “Go punch the bad guy and save the day.”

“We wouldn’t have gotten this far if it wasn’t for your help.  I know you didn’t want to fly out from Gotham for this consult, but I’m glad you agreed,” Kara said loudly for the benefit of the room.  She then looked around to see if anything was close enough to hear them.  She then leaned in closer to ensure their privacy.  “Babs please, stay and help finish the case.”

“My presentation is,” Barbara looked over at a clock.  “today, the world isn’t in danger of ending so I would very much like to work on my life outside the cowl.”

Kara took a step back from Barbara.  “No, you’re right, I’m being selfish.  I’m sorry, I was thrilled to see you walk through the door with Winn, and I’m so grateful for your help.  I just wish I had been there to help you beat up the robber.”

“There’s always next time.”  Barbara leaned over and hugged Kara.  “Meet you back at your place?”

“I have a few things to wrap up here but I’ll be sure to be there to wish you good luck before your big day.”

“Just provide the coffee, as strong as you can make it,” Barbara said.  She took out her grapple gun and swung away from the DEO.  Kara turned and walked back to the command center.

“Have a good chat with your friend?”  Alex asked.

“I apologized to her for your atrocious behavior,” Kara said. “What is your problem?”

“My problem is that she’s not being truthful with us,” Alex said.

“What do you mean she isn’t being truthful?  Are you saying the things she told us about the robber were a lie?”

“Kara don’t insult me.  That was Barbara Gordon.”

Kara set her hands on her hips.  “Did she say her name was Barbara Gordon?”

“No, but it’s obvious that was her.”

“If she didn’t say her name was Barbara Gordon then it wasn’t her.  Respect people’s boundaries.  It’s one of the first rules of being a superhero.”  Kara pointed at J’onn.  “Back me up here.”

“Kara’s right Alex, just like she doesn’t use her x-ray vision on everyone I refrain from scanning everyone’s mind without their consent, or cause.  Not only is it rude, but the ethics are murky at best.”

“But I don’t have x-ray vision, or telepathy,” Alex said.

“That doesn’t mean you should ignore the boundaries people set around themselves.  If Barbara is Batgirl, and I’m not saying she is, what does that change?  Batgirl doesn’t want us to know who she is under her cowl.  We should respect that desire.”

“If we don’t know who she really is how can we trust what she’s telling us?”

“How can a random person in National City trust me?”  Kara pointed at her chest.  “By my actions. The same is true for Batgirl, Batman, Kal and any other hero who puts on a costume.  We trust them because they are trying to help and who they are under the mask doesn’t matter.”  She spun on her heels and walked out of the DEO.

“Kara, wait,” Alex called out, but Kara had already flown off.  “What are you looking at?”  She asked Winn who had swiveled around in his chair to follow the exchange between the sisters.

“Nothing apparently,” Winn said.  He spun his chair back around and returned his attention to his monitor.

* * *

The next day Barbara busied herself arranging her poster in a small meeting room in the National City Convention Center.  A placard on an easel next to her read “Barbara Gordon, Gotham U.  Advances in Search Methods in Library Sciences.”    She adjusted her glasses as she stepped up to the podium.  The room was half-filled with bored looking academics.  Some were munching on their breakfast while other skimmed the day’s schedule.  The sound of the door opening and closing caused Barbara to look up from her notes and see Kara sit down in an empty seating the back row.  She locked eyes with Barbara and gave her a quick wave before pulling out a notepad and pen from her purse.

Barbara looked down at her notes one last time.  She tapped them against the podium then looked up at the room.  “Good morning, my name is Barbara Gordon and I am here to talk about new search algorithms and how they can best be used by librarians.”

After she had given her presentation Barbara was answering questions from a small scrum of academics in the front of the room.  Kara walked up to the group and waited until Barbara was finished before she approached her.  “Barbara, that was so…impressive!” Kara said as she hugged her.

“You didn’t understand a word of it did you?”

Kara took a step back and adjusted her glasses.  “I understood a few words, like the and library.”

“Not that I don’t appreciate a friendly face in the crowd, but why are you here?”

Kara pulled out her press credentials.  “I’m covering the conference for CatCo.  Snapper rejected my story about the science fair, but I got him to agree to an eight hundred word story.  I’d rather it be a feature naturally, but you take what you can get.”

“So you want a quote from me?”  Barbara asked.

“If you want to give me one sure.  Something about the importance of library science, if you are comfortable providing a quote that is.”

“I can give you a quote, but not picture,” Barbara said.

“Of course, of course, though a picture would help sell the story to Snapper.  Still, if you don’t want you picture taken I won’t.”  She pulled out her notebook and pen.  “So what is the importance of library science in today’s society?”

Barbara chuckled.  “You don’t start with softballs.  Can I get back to you on that?  I want to get my answer right.”

“Sure, I wouldn’t want you to feel misquoted.”  Kara looked around the room and saw that they were the only two still there.  “Do you have a moment?  I want to talk to you about last night.”

Barbara adjusted the strap on her backpack.  “I have some time before the next event I have to attend, what’s up?”

“We haven’t had any luck identifying the sketch you drew, but we’re still working on it,” Kara said.  “The same for our search for the doctor who might have done the augmentations.  You know what might help though?”

“Is it a kick-ass library science grad student who knows way too much about optimized searches?”

Kara’s face broke into a wide smile.  “Yes, exactly that!”

Barbara scratched her chin.  “There are some presentations I’d like to attend today still, but once I’m done with those I can skip the cocktail hour.”

“I don’t know, cocktail hour with a bunch of librarians sounds like a real rager,” Kara said.

Barbara smirked.  “You’d be surprised.”  

“So we’ll see you at the DEO later?”  Kara asked.

“Sure, I suppose so.”

Kara pulled Barbara in for a hug.  “Great, I’m looking forward to it.”  She cocked her head to one side.  “Are you sure I can’t use your picture?  Like I said, it could go a long way to selling the story to my editor?”

“I thought you said your editor already agreed to run the story.”

Kara ducked her head down.  “Agree might’ve been too strong a word.  He said I could cover the conference, but he needs to read the story before he agrees to print it.”

Barbara sighed and let her backpack slide to the floor.  “Okay fine, one picture.”

“Great!”  Kara rummaged through her purse and pulled out her phone.  “Look scholarly,” she told Barbara before snapping a picture.  “Great, that’s great, it’ll knock ‘em dead at CatCo for sure.”  She exchanged her phone with her pen and paper.  “Now about that quote?”

* * *

Kara walked into the DEO headquarters where Alex and J’onn stood watch.  “Did you know library science could be so fascinating?”  Kara asked the DEO agents.  “Alex, you should have come along with me.”

Alex wrinkled her nose.  “Kara, I have a degree in advanced xenobiology and no, I don’t think I should have.”

“Your loss,” Kara said.  She walked over to where Alex and J’onn stood, swinging her arms as she walked.  “Have we made any progress with our cyborg friend?”

J’ont shook his head.  “Not as much as we’d like.  The man appears to be a ghost.”

“And the doctor?”

“You’d be amazed at just how many people are researching cybernetics,” Winn sad as he entered the command center, his tablet balanced on one hand.  “We’ll figure out who the mad scientist responsible is eventually, but it would speed things along if we had more than just a broken chip to work with.”

“Do you have any good news?” Alex asked.

“I did manage to create a scanner for the frequency our cyborg is operating on.  The minute he started to do anything outside of the range of a standard human we’ll know it.”

“You’re a miracle worker Winn,” Kara said.

A klaxon started to sound in the command center.  Winn looked down at his tablet.  “Well speak of the devil, that’s the cyborg alarm.”

“Where?”  Kara asked.

“Uh Tenth and Orlando,” Winn said.

“I’m on my way.”  Kara rocketed out of the DEO.

* * *

Kara landed in front of the smashed storefront of a jewelry store.  In the distance she could hear the sound of police sirens approaching.  “Attention bad guy,” she called out.  “Come out with your hands up.”  When there was no reply she stepped through the broken window and into the shop.

She just as quickly found herself exiting the shop.  A sucker punch from the cyborg sent her hurtling across the street and into the side of a parked car.  Kara picked herself up off the ground and saw the cyborg step out of the store.  “Uh guys,” she said to the team back at the DEO.  “He got some upgrades.”

“Do you need backup?”  Alex asked.

“Negative,” Kara said as she knocked dust off of her shoulders.  “I got this.”  She looked over at the cyborg who was walking towards her.  “Okay, last chance, surrender and we can see what we can do about getting that tech out of you.”

In response the man growled and charged Kara.  She squared her shoulders and ducked his haymaker punch.  She countered with a jab to his chest that knocked him to the ground.

“Stay down,” Kara ordered the man.  Instead he growled again and stood up.  He swung at Kara’s head.  This time she caught his arm with her left hand.  “All right, enough is enough.”

The man struggled to free himself from Kara’s grip.  To her amazement he started to pull himself free.  Kara increased the strength of her grip to keep him from getting away.  “Stop squirming,” Kara said.  “You’re only going to make this worse on yourself.”  There was a tremendous grinding noise and Kara found herself holding the man’s arm up to the shoulder.  Wires stuck out of the end of the arm.

“What are you?”  Kara asked.  The cyborg raised his remaining arm and fired a blast of energy at Kara.  The bolt hit her in the chest and sent her flying back into the building behind her.  By the time she picked herself out of the rubble the cyborg was nowhere to be seen.

“Supergirl, Supergirl, are you okay?”  Alex asked over the radio.

“I’m fine,” Kara replied.  “You can tell Winn I have more tech for him to examine.”  She looked down at the arm she was still holding and grimaced.

* * *

“I appreciate you getting me a better example of our new cyborg friend’s technology, but did it have to be so.”  Winn waved his hands over the severed arm that lay on an examination table in the DEO’s lab.  “Gross?”

“Stop whining Winn and pass me that scalpel,” Alex told Winn.  She was wearing a white lab coat and stood on the opposite side of the table.  Kara, J’onn and Maggie stood off to the side observing.

“Do we really need to be here for this?”  Kara asked.  “Do I need to be here for this?”

“Don’t be such a baby Kara,” Alex said.  She took a scalpel from Winn and cut into the arm.  “It’s not like this is a full autopsy after all.”

“I know, but it’s still…” She winced as Alex pulled back the skin on the arm to reveal a metal skeleton underneath.  “Gross.”

“Oh wow, this is straight out of the Terminator,” Winn said.  He leaned in closer to look at the bloody metal.

“Will this give you what you need Agent Schott?”  J’onn asked.

“Yeah, yeah definitely,” Winn said.  He straightened and scratched the back of his head.  “I mean it will take me a little while, but it shouldn’t take that long, maybe a few hours?”

“See that it does” J’onn said.  “This situation is starting to get out of hand.”

“Well this might help,” Barbara said as she walked into the lab dressed in her Batgirl costume.  “The name of the doctor you’re looking for is Anthony Luccino.”  She tossed a manilla folder on the examination table.

“How did you get in here?”  Alex asked.  Maggie straightened and rested a hand on her gun.

“Your security is good, but I’m better.”  Barbara smirked, taking obvious pleasure at Alex’s discomfort.

“That’s, this is a top secret government facility,” Alex said.  “You can’t just come in here uninvited.  J’onn, we can’t let her do this.”

J’onn folded his arms across his chest.  “Well how about it Batgirl?”

Barbara mimicked J’onn’s posture.  “First of all, I was invited.”  She jerked her thumb in Kara’s direction.  “Secondly, I thought you wanted help with this case.  If I was wrong about that I can leave.”

“Batgirl wait don’t go,” Kara said.  She rushed across the room.  “I did invite you here and we do need your help.  Agent Danvers, we talked about this.  I mean look, she gave us a name!”

Winn picked up the folder.  “There’s just one problem.  I already considered Luccino and ruled him out because he’s dead.”  He tossed the folder back to Barbara who caught it.  “He was in a car crash last year.”

“A very convenient car crash considering that he was facing losing his medical license and criminal charges over ethics violations, ethics violations that included alleged human experimentation.”

Kara looked between Barbara and Winn.  “Wait, back up.  Who is this?”

Winn walked over to a computer terminal in the lab and called up a file.  A picture of a middle aged man with black hair and bushy mustache appeared on the monitor that hung on the wall.  “This is Doctor Anthony Luccino.  Until his untimely death he was a leading researching in the field of cybernetics, and more esoterically, the Singularity.”

Maggie frowned.  “The what?”

“The Singularity, it’s a trendy idea in certain futurist circles.  Think of it as humans and computers merging into a single entity.  Some theorists, Luccino foremost among them, think that the Singularity is how we beat death once and for all.”

“Sounds pretty out there to me,” Maggie said.

“It is, but at the same time,” Winn pointed at Kara and shrugged.  “Aliens are real, cyborgs are real.  Who’s to say it’s all woo-woo.”

“I get your point,” Maggie said.

“You said an ethics board was investigating him?”  Kara asked Barbara.

“As you might imagine, someone interested in immortality through merging humans and machines would want to test his idea,” Barbara said.

“The only problem is he didn’t get the consent of his test subjects,” Winn said.  “I’d include the pictures of his patients, but I want to eat today, and they’re just ew.”

“Sounds like the sort of person who’d be responsible for this,” Alex said.  She pointed at the cybernetic arm with her scalpel.

“Except Winn said he’s dead.” Kara frowned as she mulled over the facts of the case.

“Faking your own death isn’t unheard of,” Barbara said.  “And it would explain the string of robberies.  He needs raw material to continue his research.”

“Or, or, somebody’s taken Luccino’s research and is continuing it,” Winn said.  He stepped away from the computer terminal and walked over to where Barbara and Kara stood. “And using it to rob jewelry stores.”

“Either way our first course of action is the same,” J’onn said.

“Go to Luccino’s old office and see if he left anything behind,” Maggie said.  J’onn nodded his head in agreement.  Maggie pushed herself away from the counter she’d been leaning against.  “That sounds like a job for me.  Since this technically still is a NCPD case after all.”

Alex pulled off the rubber gloves she’d been wearing.  “I’ll go with you.”

“Wait, wait, who’s going to finish examining that?”  Winn asked.  He pointed at the severed arm.

“It’s mostly technology left, and that’s your thing,” Alex told Winn.

“But it’s all icky,” Winn said.

“Put some gloves on and wash it off,” Alex said.  “I’ve already saved a sample of the skin so we can run a DNA test so you don’t have to worry about that.”  She and Maggie left the lab.

Winn stared at the arm.  “A little help here?”  he asked Kara and J’onn.

“Sorry Winn, I don’t think heat vision is the proper super power to use in this situation,” Kara said.  “It would be like cooking fish in a microwave, only worse.”

“I’m the director of the DEO, not a lab technician.  Get busy Agent SChott.”  J’onn looked over at Barbara and Kara.  “Can I talk to the two of you?”

“God luck with your dissection,” Barbara said to Winn.  “My recommendation is to use beetles to clean off the remaining flesh.”  She followed J’onn and Kara out of the lab as Winn looked down at the arm and sighed.

J’onn lead Barbara and Kara into a conference room and closed the door behind them.  “J’onn is this about Batgirl sneaking into the DEO?  Because I really did invite her here to help us.”

“That’s not what I wanted to talk to the two of you about,” J’onn said.  “And you can take off that mask Ms. Gordon, I know who you really are.”

Barbara crossed her arms in front of her.  “If it’s all the same to you I’ll keep it on.”

Kara’s mouth fell open.  “J’onn, how could you do that?”

“I have a duty to protect this office,” J’onn said.  “It would be derelict of me to not make sure that everyone who steps foot in this building is who they say they are, especially if they are wearing a mask.”  He looked over at Barbara and bowed his head.  “I’m sorry about the unwanted intrusion into your mind.  This probably won’t make you feel better, but I promise you that I will keep your secret.”

“You’re right, I don’t feel better,” Barbara said.  “But that’s what I get for trying to keep a secret near a telepath.”

“Look at it this way, you know that a top secret government agency exists, it’s only fair that we, or at least I, should know your secret,” J’onn said.

Barbara cocked her head to one side.  “I don’t talk about you and you don’t talk about me, is that it?”

“That’s the crass way to phrase it, but yes,” J’onn said with a nod of his head.

“That sounds more like blackmail to me,” Barbara said.  She rested her hands on her hips and glared at J’onn.

J’onn mimicked Barbara’s posture.  “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

Kara wrung her hands together.  “Guys we don’t have to fight like this.  We’re on the same team here.”

“Don’t worry Kara, I’m just getting a sense of how things are,” Barbara said to Kara without taking her eyes off of J’onn.

“And do you?” J’onn asked.

Barbara nodded her head.  “I think I do.”

“Good, I’m glad we all know where we stand.”

“Are we done with the posturing?”  Kara asked.  “Can we get back to the job at hand?”

“I’m ready to get back to work.  What about you J’onn?”  Barbara asked.

“All I’ve ever been interested in is solving this case,” J’onn said.  “You’re the unknown variable in this calculation.”

“Unknown, J’onn I can assure you she’s not a threat to us, and is only here because I asked her to be.  She was hesitant to help us for this very reason,” Kara said.  “You’re being as unreasonable as Alex right now.”

“Protecting the DEO is always one of my top priorities,” J’onn said.  “I make no apologies for doing my job.”

“Yeah well you can maybe ease up a little,” Kara said.

“It’s fine Kara, I’m not offended,” Barbara said.  “In fact I was expecting something like this would happen.  Like J’onn said, being paranoid is his job.”

“I’m glad you’re so understanding,” J’onn said.

“I have experience dealing with overly paranoid types,” Barbara said.  “I’ve learned not to let it bother me.”

“That’s, er, good?”  Kara said.

Barbara let her arms drop to her side.  “Was there anything else you wanted to talk to us about?”

“If I asked you to do anything would you?”

“Maybe, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.  I don’t work for you after all.”

J’onn’s mouth twitched into a smile.  “I had no illusions that you did.”

“But since you’re our guest, it would be polite to help out anyway you can, right?”  Kara elbowed Barbara in the ribs so hard it staggered the other woman.

“Right, of course, I wouldn’t want to be rude,” Barbara said as she rubbed her side.

“That’s good to hear,” J’onn said.  “However until we hear back from Alex, or Winn finishes his analysis of that arm, there isn’t much for either of you to do.  In the meantime why don’t you head down to the clinic and get some ice on those ribs,” J’onn said.  He turned and walked out of the conference room.

Barbara looked over at Kara.  “Which way to the infirmary?”

“Down the hall to the right,” Kara said.  Barbara walked out of the room without saying another word to Kara.  “I’m sorry about your ribs,” Kara called out to Barbara as the door closed between them.


	4. Chapter 4

Kara followed Barbara into the DEO infirmary.  She looked around to make sure they were the only two people in the room.  “Barbara I’m so sorry about J’onn, that was totally uncalled for, what he did.  He should know better than to go poking around in people’s brains uninvited.  He does know better.”

Barbara walked over to the cooler in the infirmary and pulled out a cold compress.  She unzipped her jacket and pressed the compress against her side.  “Kara, relax, what’s done is done.”

“You’re not mad?”  Kara wrung her hands together.”

“Of course I’m mad, but there isn’t anything I can do about it, so why bother dwelling>”  Barbara winced as she shrugged off her jacked and pulled up the t-shirt she was wearing to get a better look at her ribs.  “Besides, it’s not like I didn’t do the same thing to you when we met for the first time.”

“Nothing’s broken by the way,” Kara said.  She pointed at Barbara’s side.  “Your ribs I mean.  They aren’t broken.  I used my x-ray vision to check.,  I hope that was okay.”

Barbara rummaged around in cabinet full of pill bothers.  “That is a handy party trick, thank-you Kara.  Now where do you keep the pain meds?  I could really use some aspirin.”

“Oh, they’re in the next cabinet over,” Kara said.  “Not that I’ve ever needed them.”

Barbara pulled a pill bottle out of the cabinet and dry swallowed a pair of aspirin.   “Thanks.”  She then took a roll of gauze tape out of the cabinet and used it to bind the compress to her side.

“I’m really sorry about your ribs,” Kara said.  “Normally I’m much better at controlling myself.”

“It’s okay, really,” Barbara said as she zipped up her jacket.  “You were feeling stressed and slipped, it happens.”

“I don’t slip, I can’t slip.  If I do people get hurt.”  Kara sat down on one of the examination beds allowing her legs to dangle in the air. 

“I suppose, but if it makes you feel any better, despite the bruised ribs I do still trust you.”

“Thanks Babs!” Kara said.  “Normally I’d give you a hug right now, but well.” She shrugged.

“My ribs thank-you for your restraint,” Barbara said.  She rotated her arm to test her range of motion on her bruised side.  She gave a little nod when she found it acceptable.  She then sat down next to Kara.

“Do you really think Dr. Luccino is the person behind the robberies?”

Barbara nodded her head.  “I do.”

“Even though he’s dead?”

“How many people have you thought were dead only to find out they were actually alive?”

Kara rubbed her chin.  “More than I would care to admit.”

“Once your friend Winn finishes his analysis of the arm we’ll have our proof one way or another.”

“I wasn’t doubting you,” Kara said.  “It’s an outrageous claim, but you’re right, a death certificate and a body burned beyond recognition aren’t very compelling.  And if he was already conducting human experiments that cyborg robber would make all the sense in the world.”

“So you noticed it too?”

“That it was like he was programmed to fight?  Yeah, he was so robotic.”

“Why put yourself at risk when you can build a lackey to do all the heavy lifting for you?”

“That’s a horrible thing to do to someone,” Kara said.

“Assuming he used a living person for his drone and didn’t pull a Dr. Frankenstein.”

“I don’t know, that might be even creepier,” Kara said.  “Like experimenting on a live person is probably a worse crime, but reanimating a dead body gives me the willies.”  Kara shivered and rubbed her upper arms.

“I don’t disagree,” Barbara said.  “Which is why we need to find him as quickly as possible.”

“We have the best people possible working on finding him.  It won’t be long.”

“I’m glad you have faith in your people,” Barbara said.

“You don’t?”  Kara asked.

Barbara shrugged.  “You know them better than I do.  If you think they can find him then they can find him.”

“Hey Babs, I have a totally unrelated question for you.”

Barbara raised an eyebrow.  “About?”

“The first night you were here, at the bar, you were describing a boy you have a complicated relationship with.”

“Yes?”

“Was it Robin?”  Kara clasped her hands together as she waited for Barbara’s reply.

Barbara sighed.  “Why does it matter?”

“It doesn’t, I’m just curious and there isn’t much for us to do at the moment so why not have a little girl’s talk?”  She nudged Barbara in the side.  “Oops, sorry about that.”

Barbara flexed her side.  “No, that was a good test, thank-you.”  She sagged against Kara.  “To answer your question.  Yes, it was Robin, or Nightwing as he’s calling himself now.”

“Awww that’s so romantic, you were crimefighting sweethearts.  What went wrong?”

“We got older, Dick moved to Bludhaven, I stayed in Gotham, you know how it goes.”

“Not really, I, er, haven’t dated much since I came to Earth, and when I have it hasn’t lasted for long.”

“Then what about Mike the bartender?” Barbara asked.  “Or is that why things are complicated with him?”

Kara snorted.  “No, that isn’t why things are complicated with Mike.  He’s from Daxam, the sister planet of Krypton.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“I won’t bore you with a history of Daxam/Krypton relations, but yeah it is.”

“From what I’ve seen he doesn’t look like that bad a guy.  If you like him then go out with him.  It’s not that complicated.”

“You and I both know it never is that easy,” Kara said.  “But I’m working on figuring it all out”

“I have no doubt you will,” Barbara said.

“I sure hope so,” Kara said.  “Because I like him, but I don’t know if he’s right for me.  I mean Alex has Maggie, and okay, I’m maybe a little jealous of them, but that’s a terrible reason to start a relationship with someone.”  She sighed.  “I’m overthinking it, aren’t I?”

Barbara patted Kara on the shoulder.  “I’d sympathize, but even your personal problems are enviable.”  She pushed herself away from Kara.  “Oh boohoo, should I date the hot guy who obviously dotes on me.”

Kara smirked.  “Shut up, are you feeling better?  I’m going to see if Winn’s made any progress with the arm.”

“I can walk down a hallway if that’s what you mean,” Barbara said.  “Or for that matter leap off a building or punch a cyborg in his face.  I’m used to fighting while banged up, it comes with the territory for us humans.  You don’t have to mother me.”

“I’m not mothering you,” Kara said.  Barbara raised an eyebrow in response.  “Well okay maybe a little.  Just let me do all the punching.”

“You think you’re going to have to punch out your friend Winn?  Okay that’s different.”

“You know what I meant,” Kara said.  She scowled at Barbara.  “The next time we see that cyborg you let me take care of it.”

Barbara’s shoulders sagged and she sighed.  “Yes mother.”

“Don’t make me hit you again, or worse, give you a hug.”

“Coming from you that’s a pretty good threat.”  The pair walked out of the infirmary.  “Instead of going with you to talk to Winn, do you want me to check out Lucinno’s office?”

“But Alex and Maggie are going to take care of that,” Kara said.

“Not until tomorrow.  I could go right now and poke around after hours, see what they don’t want you to see.”

“I’m not going to tell you to do something illegal.  The DEO is a government agency after all.”

“So I shouldn’t tell you I’m going to snoop around his old office, got it.”

Kara stamped her foot.  “No, don’t do any breaking and entering, period.”

“It would only be a little bit of B&E, and for a good cause.”

“What part of don’t do crime do you not understand?  We’re the good guys, we stop crime, not commit it.”

“So you’ve never done anything that might shade the boundaries of what’s acceptable to stop a crime?”

Kara wrung her hands together.  “Before he joined the DEO, Winn would hack traffic cameras for me, but that’s not really that bad, because he wasn’t subverting their actual function.”

“It’s still an unauthorized use of a computer system he doesn’t own,” Barbara said.  “So really not all that different from what I’m going to do.”

“No you are not,” Kara said as they entered the lab where Winn was examining the severed arm.

“She’s not going to do what?” J’onn asked.  He was standing watch over Winn as he read from his tablet computer.

“Batgirl wants to break into Luccino’s old office ahead of Alex and Maggie’s visit,” Kara said.  She ignored Barbara’s muttered “narc”.

J’onn folded his arms across his chest.  “That’s not the worst idea I’ve heard today.”

Kara stared at J’onn.  “Are you serious?  But it’s illegal.”

“Batgirl isn’t a member of the DEO, what she does is outside of our control.”  J’onn shrugged his shoulders.  “We don’t have to use what she find out in any legal prosecutions, especially if the NCPD prosecutes the case.  At the same time, forewarned is forearmed.”

“But, but, we’re supposed to be better than that,” Kara said.

“We work for the government,” Winn said.  “Illegal searches are what we do.”

Kara’s face settled into a frown.  “Be that as it may we should set a better example.”

“Okay, okay, if it means that much to you then I won’t do it,” Barbara said.  “That’s simple enough, besides, my ribs could use the night off.”

“I’m sorry for being so strident, but I think it’s very important,” Kara said.

“I’d be a terrible guest if I went against my host’s wishes,” Barbara said.

“Thank-you, that means a lot to me Batgirl.”  Kara gave Barbara a quick hug.

“So are we all good now?”  Winn asked.  “Can we talk about this creepy ass arm?”

“Of course we can Winn.  That’s why we’re here,” Kara said.  “What have you found?”

“For starters, this is just ew so nasty.  Secondly, the lady in purple is correct.  The tech in this arm is definitely based on Luccino’s work.”

“So he is still alive?”  Kara asked.

Winn shrugged.  “That or someone very slavishly duplicated his research.”

“Is there anything else you found out?”  Barbara asked.  She took a step closer to the table with the mechanical arm.

“Well I was hoping to find a kill code, or frequency, or something like that to shut the cyborg implants down remotely.”

“Did you?”  Kara asked.

Winn’s expression puckered.  “No not really, it’s just an arm after all.  For something like that we’d need the control chips, which would logically either be in the head or chest, and if you bring me one of those then the cyborg isn’t posing us much of a problem now is he?”

“So you didn’t find anything useful in all you analysis?”  Barbara asked.

Winn held up his index finger.  “No, no, I didn’t say that.  I was able to improve my detection methodology.  Now it should work at close range, even if he isn’t going all cyborg rage monster.”

“How short range is short range?”  J’onn asked.

Winn folded his hands in front of himself.  “About twenty feet, give or take.  It turns out human skin is really good at blocking the EM frequencies Luccino used. “

Kara looked down at the arm and took a step backwards.  “So that was real human skin?”

“Well, it’s organic, sort of, but I wouldn’t say it is human skin.”  Winn scratched the back of his neck.  “Honestly I have no idea, I do computers.  This is way beyond my area of expertise.”  He shrugged.  “It’s organic, but that’s about the extent of what I can say.” 

“That’s not creepy at all,” Barbara said.  ‘Do we even know if the arm belonged to a real person and not a clone?”

J’onn scratched his chin.  “A clone, that would require some very specific equipment that is hard to come by on this planet.  I would be surprised if it was.”

“I’ve got a sample of skin off for DNA testing, so we’ll have an answer the results of the test come back.”

“Is there anything at all you need us to do right now?”  Kara asked J’onn.

“Get some rest.  If your cybernetic friend shows up we’ll call you,” J’onn said.

“Be sure that you do,” Kara said to J’onn.  “Batgirl, do you need an escort out of the building?”

“I can find my own way out,” Barbara said.  “Plus, if your boss lets me, I could setup a computer search for anything related to Luccino.”

“You’re not going to plant anymore backdoors into my systems are you?”  Winn asked.  He wagged his finger at Barbara.  “Oh yes, I found all of your attempts from earlier.  You’ve got skills, but only one of use out hacked a sentient alien computer while it was trying to kill me.”  Winn buffed his knuckles against his shirt, then blew on them to remove any imaginary dirt.

“You stopped Indigo?”  Barbara asked.  Her eyebrows raised involuntarily.  

“With help from Supergirl, but yeah I did.”  Winn grinned at Barbara as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

“Color me impressed,” Barbara said.  “Now I probably could’ve stopped her too, but I’m sure it wasn’t easy and I’m glad I didn’t have to try.”

Kara looked between Barbara and Winn.  “Okay, I’m going to go now.”  She pointed her thumb at the door.  “Enjoy seeing who the bigger computer nerd is.”

J’onn pushed himself away from the table he’d been leaning against.  “Agent Schott, make sure Batgirl doesn’t leave behind any presents in my computers.”  J’onn and Kara walked out of the lab.

Winn looked over at Barbara.  “Okay, before you knock me out and go do whatever it is you want to do without Supergirl looking over your shoulder, can I just say that I bruise easily so maybe tie me up instead.  I promise not to raise the alarm.”

“And why would you think I was going to do that?”  Barbara asked Winn.

“That’s what you sneaky vigilante types do isn’t it?”  Winn set his tablet down on the examination table.

“Relax, I’m not going to knock you out Winn.  All I want to do is set up a computer search for Luccino and his crony and you have the most powerful computer available to me at the moment, it’s the logical resource to use.”

Winn opened his mouth to speak then closed it.  He frowned as he thought over what Barbara said then started again.  “So you aren’t going to run off and snoop around Luccino’s office on your own?”

Barbara smirked at Winn.  “If I was would I tell you?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to, but…” Winn shrugged his shoulders.  

“Let me set your mind at ease, I am no.  Supergirl asked me not to so I won’t”

“You don’t have to call her Supergilr,” Winn said.

“What else would I call her?”  

This time it was Winn’s turn to smirk.  “Her real name, come on, you obviously know it.  If you didn’t I’d question how good your detective skills really are.”

Barbara held a hand up to her chest.  “So you’re saying I would violate her privacy?”  

“I think you did.”

“She told you?”

Winn shook his head.  “She’s never said a bad word about you.  It just made sense that you would be able to figure it out because you have eyes.”

Barbara cocked her head to one side.  “Just like you have eyes Mr. Schott?”

Winn shuffled his feet.  “Maybe?  I mean there has to be a reason why you won’t turn that voice modulator off.”

“And that reason would be I’m worried you might recognize my voice.”  Barbara muttered a curse under her breath.  “Coming over here was a complete mistake.”

“No no no no no no no no no,” Winn said.  “You’ve been an amazing help.”  He put his hands on Barbara’s shoulders to keep her from leaving the lab.  “I can honestly say I don’t care who you are under that incredibly cool helmet.  You’re here to help us, and that’s all that matters.”  He paused.  “I mean I might’ve cared at one point, but in an abstract sort of way.  Curiosity really, more than a real need to know.”

“Are you saying that to make me feel better, or because you’re afraid I’m going to beat you up?”

“It’s a little bit of both if I’m honest.”  Winn chuckled at his own joke then wiped the palms of his hands on the legs of his trousers.  “Look, I have a question I’ve been meaning to ask ever since I first saw you so I’m going to go for it.”  He held up a hand to quiet Barbara before she could say anything.  “No, it’s not that.  I know better than to ask you that.”

“Well good for you,” Barbara said.  “So what did you want to ask me then?”

“Who designed that costume?”  Winn asked.  He looked up and down at Barbara  “Because it is seriously great.”

Barbara felt her cheeks redden.  “Thanks.  Would you believe I originally put this together in a pinch after my original costume was destroyed in a fire.”

“It’s fantastic, I mean I could make a few improvements here and there, but it’s a real solid start.  Is there kevlar under that jacket?”

“Of course,” Barbara said.  “Double weave bonded to the leather.”

“And it doesn’t inhibit your motion any?”

“It’s a proprietary process developed by Wayne Enterprises,” Barbara said.  “They’re on the forefront of body armor research.”

“And what made you decide on the clips for the cape?”

“Look Winn, I’d love to sit around and talk costume design with you, but there’s a violent cyborg out there and we should deal with that first.”

Winn scratched the sides of his head as he looked down at his shoes.  “Oh, yeah, right, that we should.”

“Then how about you help me set up a search for the purchase of materials needed to make electronics like this.”  Barbara pointed at the arm.  “We know what its components are right?”

Winn nodded his head.  “Of course I do.”  He brushed an imaginary mote of dust off of the lapel of his shirt.  “Who do you think I am?”  He looked over at Barbara and saw the incredulous look on her face.  “You, uh, don’t have to answer that.”

Before Barbara could reply she felt her cell phone buzz.  “Excuse me one moment,” she told Winn before walking over to the other side of the room.  She glanced down at the phone and saw Kara’s number.  “What’s up?”

“Barbara, I was just wondering if you’d had dinner yet or not.”

“Why?”  Barbara asked.

“I was going to order some Chinese and I thought if you hadn’t eaten yet you might want some.  I know a place that makes the most amazing pot stickers.”

“I’m…wait, what?”

“You weren’t going to skip dinner were you?  It’s only the most important meal of the day, after breakfast that is,” Kara said.

“I had a big lunch?”  Barbara said.  She looked over at Winn who was staring at her and she shrugged at him apologetically.  She mouthed the word Supergirl and Winn nodded.

“You did not.  We need you at your best Barbara, you’re eating dinner with me and that’s final.”

Barbara pinched the bridge of her noise then glanced down at her feet.  “Okay, fine, I need to wrap up some things here and then I’ll be over.”

“Be sure that you do, or I’ll be back there to send you and Winn home.”  The line then went dead.

Barbara pursed her lips together then looked back at Winn.  “Let’s get that search started, then we are ordered to go home.”

“Yeah, Ka…Supergirl will do that sometimes.  She means well.”

“I know, but I’ve staked out drug dens for days.  This is nothing compared to that.”

“Okay, that was a little intense.  I’m going to start looking for anyone who bought microcircuits like the ones in the arm.  If you want to stay here and be all sulky that’s your decision.”  Winn pointed at the door before he left the room.  Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose again, sighed, then followed Winn out of the lab.

* * *

Kara landed in her apartment dressed in her civilian clothes and holding two plastic bags full of Chinese food.  She placed the bags on her dining room table then busied herself with gathering plates and silverware.  A knock on her door interrupted her table setting.  She looked through the door with her x-ray vision and saw Mon-El standing outside her apartment.  Kara sighed and walked over to the door.

“What do you want Mon-El?”  She asked as she opened the door.

“Hello to you too,” Mon-El said.  He inhaled deeply.  “Is that twice-cooked pork I smell?”  Mon-El took a step towards the dining room table, but Kara put a hand on his chest to stop him.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Mon-El tried to sidestep Kara but she kept herself between him and the food.  “Okay, I just wanted to see how you were doing.  I heard about your fight with the cyborg.”

“And you thought I was in need of what exactly?”

Mon-El wrung his hands together as he thought over his response.  “I’m here to see if you want to talk about it?”

“What’s there to talk about?  There was a cyborg, we fought, I ripped his arm off, he ran away, end of story.”

Mon-El cocked his head to one side.  “Why are you trying to get rid of me?”

“I am not!”  Kara crossed her arms in front of her.

“Yes, you are,” Mon-El said.  “Do you really not want to share your egg rolls that much?”

“It’s not that, I’m expecting Barbara to show up for a late dinner,” Kara said.

“And you don’t want old Mon-El around as a third wheel.  Okay, I get it.”  Mon-El turned on his heels and started to walk towards the door.

“No, no, no, no, it’s not that,” Kara said.  She reached out and grabbed Mon-El by his arm.  “I was just surprised is all.”

“So I can stay for dinner?”  Mon-El asked.

“I…” Kara paused and looked at Mon-El who was bouncing on the balls of his feet.  She stretched out her hearing to see if Barbara was approaching the apartment.  When she heard her bedroom window opening she scowled and returned her attention to Mon-El.  

Mon-El held up a hand to his chest.  “Kara no, I’m not trying to intrude on you.  All I wanted to do was  come over to see if you were okay.  Which was silly because of course you’re okay, you’re Supergirl, why wouldn’t you be okay?”

Kara reached out and took Mon-El’s hand in hers.  “Mon-El, it’s sweet that you wanted to check up on me.  You didn’t have to, but I appreciated it.”  She leaned up and kissed Mon-El on the cheek.  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay.  Maybe we can get Chinese this weekend.”

“Yeah, sure tomorrow, great,” Mon-El said as Kara pushed him out of the apartment and closed the door. 

“You can show yourself now,” she called out.

“I guess I can’t sneak up on you twice can I?”  Barbara said as she stepped out of the shadows.  She had removed her cape and helmet and her jacket was partially unzipped.  “What was that all about?”

Kara glanced back at the door.   “That, that was nothing.  Mon-El was checking up on me after the fight with the cyborg.  Which was silly because it’s not like it could hurt me.”

“True, but it still was nice that he was concerned, right?”

Kara crossed her arms in front of her.  “He has his own things he should be worried about.”

Barbara pushed herself up on onto the dining room table. “It’s a sign that he can be concerned about someone who isn’t himself?”

“It’s real easy to be concerned about a person who is indestructible.  He should be concerned about people who aren’t bulletproof.”

“We can’t all be as selfless as you are,” Barbara said.

Kara shook her head.  “Whatever our dinner’s getting cold, we should eat.”

“Couldn’t you just use your heat vision to fix that?”

“Reheated food never tastes the same,” Kara said.  She walked into her kitchen to retrieve napkins for them.  “It’s like using a microwave.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Barbara said.  She dismounted from the table and started to take boxes of food out of the two full bags that sat next to her.  “Did you get enough?”  She asked Kara.

Kara handed Barbara one of the two plates stacked on the table.  “Why, do you think I should’ve gotten more?”

“No, I think it’s too much for just two people.”

“You’ve never seen me eat have you?”  Kara helped herself to pot stickers and lo mein.  “I eat, like a lot,” she said between bites.

Barbara forked chicken and rice onto her plate.  “Okay, if you insist.”

“Try the pork, it’s amazing,” Kara said.  She pointed at a container with her fork.

Barbara sat down her fork.  “Kara why are you doing this?”

“What, I’m hungry and I don’t like to eat alone.  You sure you don’t want any of this pork?”  She picked up the carton and waved it in Barbara’s face.

“So this isn’t you trying to apologize to me for your boss at the DEO figuring out my secret identity?”

Kara juggled the cartons of food she was holding, letting one of them fall onto the table.  “No, why would you think that?  And seriously, try the pork.”

Barbara picked up the carton Kara dropped.  “I’m just saying as apologies go, this would be a pretty good one.”  She took a piece of pork out of the carton and popped it into her mouth.  “And you’re right, this is really good.”

“Oh, in that case yes, this is my apology to you.  I didn’t mean for J’onn to confront you like that.”

“I know Kara, I’m not mad at you.  Frankly if a top secret government intelligence agency can’t figure out that I’m Batgirl then they aren’t worth much.”

Kara chuckled.  “So just to be clear, you aren’t mad at me?”

“No, well, a little, but don’t worry, I can get over it,” Barbara said.  “Let’s just enjoy our Chinese.”

“I can do that,” Kara said.  “Here, try the hot beef, it’s amazing too, and we need drinks!”  She passed a carton over to Barbara before scurrying into her kitchen to get two bottles of beer.


	5. Chapter 5

“Do you really think we’re going to find anything here?”  Maggie asked Alex as they stood outside the building Luccion’s old office was located in.

“I trust the information given to us,.” Alex said.

“Even if it’s from a masked vigilante?”  Maggie asked.

Alex pulled open the door to the office building.  “Sure, we vetted the intel on our own and if he wasn’t dead, Luccino would be your prime suspect.”

Maggie walked through the open door.  “Still, it seems like a mistake to blindly trust someone like Batgirl.  If you’ll pardon the pun”

“You won’t get an argument from me,” Alex said.

Maggie turned around and stopped in front of Alex.  “You’re jealous of her aren’t you?”

“Maybe a little.”  Alex shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I’ve been trying to figure that out ever since she first showed up in National City.  I don’t want to be that person who’s irrationally overprotective of her little sister.”

“Especially when that little sister can benchpress a tank.”

Alex laughed.  “That does reduce the worry.”  She grabbed Maggie by the arm and dragged her down the hall.  “Still, even though her skin is bulletproof her heart certainly isn’t and I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

“That was incredibly hokey, you realize that right Danvers?”  Maggie told her girlfriend.

“Okay yes, I went a little overboard,” Alex said.  She pushed the call button for the building’s elevator.  “But that doesn’t mean I have to like Batgirl.”

The elevator door opened with a ding and the couple stepped onto it.  “Of course not, and I’m right with you Alex.  Why should we when she doesn’t even trust us with her secret identity even though it’s painfully obvious who she really is.”

Alex keyed in the floor they wanted to visit.  “I know, as if it wasn’t plain as day.  I told Kara that the moment she introduced us.”

“Then again, considering who her father is, it makes sense she’d try to keep her other identity quiet,” Maggie said.  “I can’t imagine how awkward that conversation would be.”

“And coming from you that’s saying something.”

Maggie chuckled.  “At least I wasn’t subverting the law my parents swore to uphold.”  She scratched her chin.  “Or maybe I was.  Ether way, the daughter of the police commissioner secretly being a costumed vigilante?  Yeah I can get why she’d want to keep that a secret.”

“Yes, the top secret government agents can’t keep a secret,” Alex said.  She crossed her arms in front of her and tapped on her bicep with an index finger as she waited for the elevator to finish its ascent.

“The more people who know a secret increases the odds that secret gets out,” Maggie said.

Alex dropped her arms back to her sides and exhaled.  “I’m being petty aren’t I?”

Maggie rubbed Alex’s arm.  “You are, but I’m here for you and perfectly happy to be petty right alongside you.”

Alex kissed Maggie on the cheek.  “That’s, that means a lot to me.”

The elevator door opened and Maggie took a step away from Alex. “Time to put the game face on.”

Alex grimaced at Maggie.  “Like this?”

“A little too much game there Danvers.”  She and Alex stepped off the elevator and walked down the hallway towards Luccino’s old office.

“That’s what I keep telling you, I have a lot of game.”

Maggie nugded Alex with her elbow.  “You have a lot of something that’s for sure.”  They came to a stop outside of an office door.  A plaque hanging next to it read Luccino Research.  “This must be the place.”

“I’m a bit surprised they’re still operating under the old name considering the controversy surrounding Luccino before his death.”

“Might be a sign he’s not quite dead,” Maggie said.

Alex pushed open the door for Maggie.  “That’s what we’re here to find out.”  Beyond the door they found themselves standing in a waiting room area that was empty except for a receptionist sitting behind a desk.  A door on the opposite end of the room next to the receptionist’s desk lead deeper into the office suite. 

The receptionist looked up when she heard the door close.  She folded her hands in front of her.  “Can I help you ladies?”

Maggie reached into her jacket and removed her badge.  “I’m Detective Maggie Sawyer of the NCPD.  Is there someone here I can talk to about Dr. Anthony Luccino.”

The reception looked around the room.  “But Dr. Luccino is dead.”

Alex leaned over the desk.  “We know, but that’s still his name on your door, and we have questions about his work that someone here should be able to answer since the good doctor is unavailable.  So why don’t you pick up that phone and find that person for us.”

The reception stared at Alex before reaching for her office phone.  She fumbled picking up the receiver the first time she tried, but then managed to hold it up to her ear.  “Dr. Bell?  The, uh, police are here.  With more questions about Dr. Lccino.”  She paused as she listened to the person on the other end of the line.  “Okay Doctor, I’ll tell them”  She hung up the phone and returned her attention to Alex and Maggie.  “If you could just stand over there please.”  She pointed to a spot on the other end of the room.  “Dr. Bell will see you shortly.”

Alex and Maggie walked over to the indicated spot after sharing a look.  “So do you get many patients?”  Alex asked the receptionist.

“We aren’t that kind of doctor’s office,” the receptionist said.  “Any further information will have to come from Dr. Bell.  I just answer the phones.”  She smiled at Alex by way of apology.

“Okay, I officially do not like her,” Alex said to Maggie in a quiet voice.  “Do you think we could run her plates when we’re done here?  See if she has any unpaid parking tickets.”

“Why don’t you get your sister to do your dirty work for you?  Maybe put a boulder on her car.”

“Because she’d never agree to it that’s why,” Alex said.  “You’ve met her, you know how she gets over even the merest hint she might be abusing her powers.”

“So you think your girlfriend is more morally flexible than your sister.”  Maggie said.  She set her hands on her hips.  “Danvers I think I’m offended.”

“No, you’re not,” Alex said.  “It shows just how much I trust you.”

Their conversation was cut off by the arrival of a woman dressed in a smart business suit with a white lab coat over it.  Next to an embroidered set of caduceus the name Rachel Bell was stitched above the breast pocket of the lab coat.  “Are you two ladies the police my receptionist told me about?”

Maggie nodded her head.  “I’m Detective Sawyer, this is Agent Danvers.”  She pointed at Alex.  “Have you heard about the recent string of robberies at jewelry stores in the city?”

“I’ve seen mentions of them in the newspaper, why?”

“The person responsible has been enhanced by technology we’ve linked to Dr. Luccino’s work.”

Dr. Bell took a step back from Alex and Maggie.  “That, that can’t be possible.”

“We’ve had our best people analyze evidence left behind at the scene and there is no doubt about it,” Maggie told the doctor.  “If you want I could provide you with copies of our findings.”

Bell sighed.  “That won’t be necessary.  Chances are I wouldn’t be able to make any sense of it anyway.  The work Anthony was doing was beyond my expertise.”

“Someone was able to figure it out, unless…” Alex said.

“Unless what?”

“There’s a theory going around the office that Dr. Luccino faked his death and is the mastermind behind these robberies,” Maggie said.  “I know it sounds crazy and in poor taste to suggest something like that, but we live in a world where aliens are real and people turn into living lightning.  At this point I don’t dismiss anything out of hand.”

Dr. Bell looked around the reception area.  “We should continue this conversation in my office.”

“Okay, lead the way doctor,” Maggie said.

They followed Dr. Bell through the office suite and into a large, well-appointed office with a large window that overlooked the National City skyline.  Dr. Bell motioned for Alex and Maggie to sit in the two chairs that were opposite her desk.  Dr. Bell sat down behind the desk and moved around some of the papers in front of her before she spoke.  “How much do you know about Anthony’s work?”

“It has to do with cybernetics,” Alex said.  “But I haven’t had the chance to read his papers to know anything beyond that.”

“And I’m never going to read them,” Maggie said.  “Why don’t you tell us about them?”

“As Agent Danvers said, Anthony’s work involved the intersection of man and machine.  To that end he focused on interfaces between the human nervous system and computers.  It was truly groundbreaking work.”

“So what went wrong?”  Maggie asked.

“To further his research human trials were required, and the approval process went too slowly for his taste.”

“Instead he conducted human trials with no oversight,” Alex said.

“It was a terrible mistake, I don’t disagree,” Bell said.  “And I must point out that the horrific experiments he performed were done without consulting myself or anyone else on the staff.”

“We get it, you had nothing to do with Dr. Luccino’s Mengele act,” Maggie said.

“If I had known what Anthony was doing I would have put a stop to it,” Bell said.  She glared at Maggie then took a deep breath.

“How many other people were familiar with Dr. Luccino’s work?”  Alex asked.  “Familiar enough to replicate it?”

“Anthony didn’t share his work with anyone.  Even at the height of his egomania he know what he was doing was wrong.  He kept the results and methods to himself.  After the crash we looked, but couldn’t find any sign of the research he had been working on.  That’s why I have a hard time believing these robberies have anything to do with his work.”

“We have conclusive proof in the form of a cybernetic arm that Supergirl tore off of the robber sitting in our lab,” Alex said.  “This was Anthony Luccino’s work, or someone copying him.”

“What can you tell us about the accident that killed Dr. Luccino?”  Maggie asked.

Bell shrugged.  “I’m sure you know as much, if not more, about that than I do.  He was driving home from a court hearing, lost control of his car and crashed.  There was a fire, it was ghastly.”

“In other words, if he wanted to fake his death it was the perfect way to do so,” Alex said.

“People do not fake their death,” Bell said.  “That only happens in movies.”

“A lot of things people think only happens in movies actually do happen,” Maggie said.  “Like cybernetic arms.”

“For now let’s just assume that he did he did fake his death.  If he was alive, where would he go?”  Alex asked.

“He has not been in contact with me if that’s what you mean,” Dr. Bell said.  She tapped on her chin.  “There was a research space he owned that was separate from the lab’s.  I didn’t even learn of its existence until after his death.”

“Can we get the address for that research space?”

“Certainly, I’ll make sure my reception has it for you on your way out.”

“Has anyone been there since the accident?”  Alex asked.

“No, his estate has been caught up in a legal dispute and no one from the company is allowed to enter it,” Bell said.

“Is that also why you haven’t changed the name of the company?”  Maggie asked.

“Yes, it’s not by choice that we’ve kept our research firm named after a mad scientist,” Bell said.  She again shuffled the papers on her desk.  “We are working with a branding consultant to find a new name for the company before we get a fresh round of VC funding.”

“It sounds like you have a plan then,” Alex said.

Dr. Bell leaned forward on her desk and laced her fingers together.  “Yes I’m looking forward to getting this company back to doing solid research, and not indulging in Anthony’s crazy visions.”

“You’re glad to be rid of Dr. Luccino then?”  Maggie asked.

“I’m not glad that he’s dead, or faked his death or whatever.  Don’t get me wrong, Anthony was a brilliant mind who single-handedly made this lab, and a good friend.  But his obsession with the Singularity lead him down a dark path that ultimately ruined him.  As a company we are, sadly, better off without him.”

Maggie nodded her head then stood up.  “I think we have what we need.  Thank-you for your time Dr. Bell.  We’ll be in touch if we need anything else from you.”

“Do you think it’s true, is Anthony still alive?”

“I think it would be one of the less bizarre things I’ve ever seen, so I’m keeping an open mind,” Alex said.

“And it goes without saying if you do see Dr. Luccino, or he gets in touch with you in any way,” Maggie started to say.

“I will call 911 immediately,” Dr. Bell said.  “I think I’ll have the locks changed immediately.  You know, just in case.”

“That probably would be for the best,” Maggie said before she and Alex left the office.

* * *

Back at the DEO Alex, Maggie, J’onn, Kara and Winn stood around the table in the command center.  A map of Luccino’s secret research lab was visible on the main display.  “This is where we think Luccino is located,” Alex said.  “It’s a privately held research space that wasn’t included in a list of Luccino’s assets at the time of his death.”

Winn tapped on his computer and the map disappeared.  In its place was a series of casements.  “And just to add more fuel to the fire, since Dr. Luccino’s apparent demise no one else has moved into the building, but the power usage is nuts.  Someone has set up shop there.”

Maggie looked around the room.  “Normally this is where I would say thanks for the help, call in tactical team from the NCPD and get to work.”

“But these circumstances aren’t normal,” Kara said.

“No they are not,” Maggie said with a shake of her head.  “I’ll leave the door kicking to Supergirl this time.”

Kara grinned.  “I’ll go warm up my door kicking foot.”

J’onn held up a hand.  “Before you do any kicking we need to come up with a plan first.”

“Of course we need a plan.  It’s not like I was about to fly off and knock the front door down all on my own.”  Kara wrapped the edges of her cape and pulled them in closer to her body.

“What J’onn means Kara is that cyborg fought you to a standstill last time.  Who knows how many others Luccino has waiting for you.”

“I can’t do it all on my own, I need help, I get it,” Kara said.  “Winn, I bet you have something.  A gizmo that will fry their circuitry and let us punch them out no problem right?”

“That is a really good idea,” Winn said.

Kara’s face brightened into a smile then quickly faded.  “The way you said that.  You already had that idea and couldn’t do anything with it.”

Winn held out his hands.  “Sorry, I tried, but the electronics are too well-shielded for a small-scale EMP to have any effect.  It would require a blast strong enough to take down a city block for them to work.”

“And that would be bad.  Okay so we table the EMP idea and come back to it only as a means of last resort.  Like a cyborg zombie army is about to overwhelm us,” Kara said.

“That’s certainly an evocative image, remind me to never let you watch the Walking Dead ever again,” Alex said.

“I am way ahead of you there,” Kara said.  “So if a tech solution is out I guess that only leaves punching.  Fortunately I can do a lot of punching.”

“Before we have Kara level a city block let’s take a moment and think this through,” J’onn said.  “Agent Danvers, assemble a tactical team and go to the lab to arrest whoever is there.  Supergirl will hold back and wait for the cyborg to show up before engaging.”

“And I’m going with you,” Maggie told Alex.

“Of course, this was your case after all.  You deserve to see it though to the end,” Alex said.

“I’ll got get my shotgun out of my car,” Maggie said.

“If you see any sign of that cyborg you call me,” Kara said.

“Of course, I don’t have any desire to fight a cyborg.  Another cyborg,” Alex said.

“About that, do we have any leads into the identity of our mystery cyborg?”  J’onn asked.

“Now that  I can help with,” Winn said.  “I managed to unscramble the picture we have of him.  It wasn’t easy, I had to first run it through…”

“Winn, what are the odds most of the people standing around this table will understand whatever it is you’re about to say?” Alex asked.

Winn looked around the room.  “You and…okay fair point, bottom line, it was hard work but I was able to piece together most of a face.”

“And?”  Kara asked.

“I fed that and our sketch through facial recognition and got a match.” Winn pushed a button on his table and the picture on the display changed again.  “Meet Jason Moore, age thirty-seven, or rather was age thirty-seven.”

Maggie frowned.  “Was?”

“Oh yeah, he’s dead.”  Winn called up a picture of a newspaper clipping with the man’s face on it.  “Deader than a doornail, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.  Very sad.”

“Let me guess, he died around the same time as Dr. Luccino,” Alex said.

“Have you been reading my notes?”  Winn asked.  “Yeah, he died shortly after Luccino, and then vanished, which is sort of obvious given that he died and all.  He was also enrolled in one of Luccnio’s legitimate trials for conscious transference.”

“So Luccino faked his own death, then turned this dead guy into his personal cyborg henchman,” Maggie said.

“You left out zombie, but assuming we’re right about Luccino not being dead, yeah basically that,” Winn said.

“At this point I think that’s a safe assumption Agent Schott,” J’onn said.

Kara clapped her hands together causing papers to fly off of the table.  “Okay Alex and Maggie are going to raid the lab.  I’m their backup along with Batgirl.  And Winn will keep working on that EMP, just in case.”

J’onn raised and eyebrow.  “And what do you want me to do?”

Kara took a step back from the table.  “You, uh, will do whatever you want to do J’onn, sir, boss.”

J’onn chuckled.  “That sounds like a plan.  Let’s get to it.”

“Kara, can I talk to you for a moment?”  Alex asked as the group dispersed.

“Sure, what’s up?”  Kara let Alex lead her into a meeting room.  “Is this about Batgirl?  It’s about Batgirl isn’t it?”

Alex hung her head.  “Yes it’s about Batgirl.  Are you sure you want to involve her in this?  I won’t deny that she’s good in a fight, but isn’t this out of a non-powered person’s league?”

“Like you said, she’s good in a fight, and she’s already faced Moore once before.”

“But she’s still an ordinary human.  I notice you didn’t say anything about including James in your strike team.”

Kara planted her hands on her hips.  “That’s, that’s.”  She dropped her hands to her sides.  “Okay maybe you have a point there.  Do you think we should call in James, or Mon-El?”

Alex cocked her head to one side.  “Do you?”

“No, neither of them have enough experience.  Batgirl is different though, she’s been doing this for years.  I think she could even take you in a fight.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed.  “Is that so?”

“It’s not a competition Alex,” Kara said.  “I’m just saying she’s a very skilled fighter, it doesn’t mean I like her more than you.”

“I know that Kara,” Alex sighed.  “But it does sting a little that my little sister doesn’t think I could take someone in a fight.”

“If it makes you feel better there are other people I think could take you in a fight.  Like Green Arrow, or his sister Speedy on Earth-1, or their friend White Canary — who actually you should meet, you’d get along great.  They’ve all been trained by the League of Assassins.”

“What was that about the League of Assassins?”  Barbara asked as she appeared in the room causing both Alex and Kara to jump.

“How did you…” Alex started to ask before she shook her head.  “Never mind, you’re not about to give me a real answer are you?”

Barbara smirked.  “And ruin the mystique?”  She looked at Kara.  “You said League of Assassins, are they in town as well?”

Kara frowned.  “There’s a League of Assassins on this Earth too?  I was talking about some of my friends on Earth-1.”

“It always comes back to those friends from an alternate dimension with you doesn’t it?”  Barbara said.

“Even I have a hard time believing it, and I’ve met one of them,” Alex said.

“See, you’re bonding,” Kara said.  “By making fun of me, oh no.”

“Be careful when you wish on that monkey’s paw Kara,” Alex said.  “So Batgirl, Kara here says she thinks you can take me in a fight.”

“Alex is now really the best time for this?”  Kara asked her sister.

Alex crossed her arms in front of her.  “You’re the one who wants to bring her along to fight a killer zombie cyborg.  Consider this a qualification exam.”

Kara rolled her eyes.  “Alex you’re being silly.  Of course she’s qualified, just look at her.  Batgirl you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Barbara looked Alex up and down.  “No, I think I do.”

* * *

In the DEO training room Alex and Barbara stood across from each other while a small cluster of DEO employees looked on.  Mon-El and Kara stood to one side of J’onn while Winn and Maggie stood on the other.

“Thank-you for inviting me over to watch this,” Mon-El said to Kara.  “Seeing a fight like this brings back memories of home.”

Kara wrinkled her nose in disgust.  “Didn’t they have gladiatorial death matches on Daxam?”

“Not all the fights were to the death,” Mon-El said.  “And I can see now that saying that didn’t help me in the slightest.”

Kara shook her head.  “Not in the slightest.”

J’onn looked over at the two combatants.  “I think this is a waste of time, but you both seem dead set on this so I won’t stop you.  Just remember, no permanent damage.  We still have a cyborg to catch.”

“Zombie cyborg,” Winn said.

“Really, you’re keeping the cape on for this?”  Alex asked Barbara.  Alex had changed into sparring gear.  By comparison the only concession Barbara had made for the fight were the padded gloves she wore in place of her normal yellow pair.

“Of course, why change what works?”  Barbara said.  She bit down on a mouthguard and raised her fists into a ready position.

“Kick her ass Alex!”  Maggie yelled.  She then leaned around Mon-El to speak with Kara.  “Does she have a chance?”

“We’re about to find out,” Kara said.

Alex charged Barbara who spun out of the way with a flourish.  She then tried to catch Alex in the back of the head with an elbow.  Alex ducked her head under the blow and pivoted on the balls of her feet.  She used her momentum to kick at Barbara’s midsection.  Barbara blocked the kick with her arm and then grabbed onto Alex’s leg.  Alex went limp and fell to the floor, her leg slipping out of Barbara’s grasp.  She then pushed herself back up into a standing position.

“Not bad,” Barbara said.  “Not great, but not bad.”  She leapt at Alex and tried to deliver a flying kick at her head.  Alex dodged the attack and Barbara hit the ground then rolled into a ready position.

“This could take a while,” Mon-El said to Kara.

Kara watched the two fighters circle each other.  “Oh I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

Alex charged Barbara again, but this time Barbara dropped to the floor and swept her leg out to knock Alex off balance.  Alex was able to leap over the attack, but Barbara seized the opening and punched Alex square on the jaw.

The hit staggered Alex and she fell to the ground.  Before she could recover Barbara was on top of her and pressed her forearm to Alex’s throat.  “Good fight,” she said to Alex.

Alex struggled to free herself.  “I’m not done yet.”

“Oh yes you are,” J’onn said.  “I will not have my best agent getting concussed before an important operation.  Batgirl won.  You don’t like it, wait until after Luccino is in custody before having round two.”  He turned and walked out of the room.

“Don’t feel bad,” Barbara told Alex as she helped her to her feet.  “There aren’t many people who can last that long against me, and most of them wear capes and masks.”

“That really doesn’t make me feel any better about getting my ass kicked,” Alex said.  She looked around the room and took note of the money changing hands.

“In that case how about this, I wasn’t holding anything back.  That was me at one hundred percent.”

Alex rest her hands on her hips.  “No lie, that was the best you’ve got?”

Barbara smirked.  “That you know of.”

“You know what, I’ll take it, and next time I’ll beat you.”

“We’ll see, but first do I get to help you stop Dr. Luccino and his zombie cyborg?”

Alex sighed.  “It wouldn’t be fair of me to say no now would it?”

Mon-El walked over to the pair.  “Alex, Alex, that was impressive fighting.  Not as good as Batgirl, but still real good.”

Kara elbowed Mon-El out of the way.  “So are you two friend now that you’ve had it out?”

Alex looked between Kara and Barbara.  “Don’t push your luck Kara.  We leave for the op in five.”  She flexed a sore arm and walked out of the gym with Maggie.


	6. Chapter 6

“Can I say again how much I’m not a fan of this plan?”  Kara said over the radio.

“Relax, this is a good plan, a good plan,” Alex told her sister.  She and Maggie, along with a squad of armed DEO agents were sitting in the back of a van driving towards the secret research lab owned by Anthony Luccino.

“I should just bust in there and settle things once and for all.”  Kara said as she hovered high up in the air over the lab.

“Let us first make sure there’s someone in there for you to punch,” Alex said.

“And if there is?”

“Then you’ll be here in no time flat to punch them,”  Alex said.

“I’m in position,” Barbara said over the coms, breaking up the sisters’ conversation.  She crouched behind the AC unit of the building across the street from the lab.

“Copy that Batgirl.  Wait for our signal before you infiltrate the lab,” Alex said.

“Understood,” Barbara replied.

Alex looked over at Maggie.  “Did you ever imagine you’d be working with Batgirl to catch a criminal?”

“It’s not the first time I’ve worked with someone dressed up like a bat,” Maggie said.

Alex cocked her head to one side.  “You holding out on me Sawyers?”

“It’s a long story.  I’ll tell you about it later.  When we aren’t about to fight a cyborg drone and a mad scientist.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Alex said.

“I know you will,” Maggie replied, then forced a smile onto her face.

The van pulled up to a stop in front of the lab and Alex and Maggie got out.  “Wait until you hear the signal, or five minutes, whichever comes first,” Alex told Agent Vazquez.

“No offense ma’am, but we aren’t letting the two of you go in there on your own,” Vazquez replied.

“In that case we’ll open the door for you,” Alex said before sliding the van door closed.

Alex and Maggie walked up to the front door of the lab.  Maggie pushed the intercom button after trying the door and finding it locke.d  “This is Detective Maggie Sawyer of the NCPD.  I have a warrant to search the building.”  When there was no response she looked over at Alex.  “Okay do it.”  Maggie drew her sidearm then stepped away from the door.

Alex removed a device from her belt and plugged it into the card reader next to the door.  The door swung open and Alex nodded at Maggie.  “Strike team, we are a go,” she said into her radio.

From her perch across the street Barbara stood up and fired her grapple gun at the research lab.  She swung across the street and landed on the roof with a quiet thud.  She surveyed her surrounding to see if anyone was on the roof with her.  When she was satisfied she was alone she ran over to an access door and entered the building.

Down at ground level the strike team entered the lab with Alex and Maggie at the point.  They creep through the hallways of the lab.  Alex reached up to toggle the radio on her shoulder.  “Winn, where are we going?”

Back in the DEO Winn tapped on his keyboard.  “There’s a staircase down the hall to your right.  The main lab is on the third floor.”

“Third floor, got it, thanks Winn,” Alex said.  “Supergirl, are you ready?”

“You know I am,” Kara replied.  “I’m getting bored counting the clouds out here.”

“I’m sure there will be someone for you to punch soon enough,” Alex said.

The strike team pushed open the door to the main lab.  The outer edge of the large room was ringed with decks and lab stations.  Standing in the middle of the lab next to a computer workstation with his back to the door was a man dressed in a white lab coat and surgical scrubs.  In front of him was a surgical table with a body wrapped in a white sheet lying on it.  Maggie aimed her pistol at the man as the rest of the strike team fanned out around the edge of the room.  “NCPD, put your hands up and step away from the table,” she told the man.

The man complied with Maggie’s instructions.  “And now what would you like me to do?”  the man asked.

“Turn around,” Maggie said.  “Slowly and keep your hands where I can see them.”

The man raised his arms and turned to face Alex and Maggie.  “Is something the matter officer?”  Anthony Luccino asked.

“Dr. Anthony Luccino, you are under arrest,” Maggie said.  She took step towards Luccino with her gun still aimed at him.

“I think not,” Lucinno said.  He pushed a button on the keyboard next to him.  “Kill them!”  He shouted at the cyborg g Jason Moore who rose up from the operating table.  The arm Kara had removed was replaced by an all metal one.

“Kara now!”  Alex yelled into her radio.  Before Alex even finished speaking the wall behind her exploded as Kara flew into the lab.  She landed in front of Moore.

“Hi there, miss me?”  She asked the cyborg.  “Let’s talk outside.”  Kara grabbed Moore and flew him out of the lab.

Alex smirked at Luccino.  “Care to try again?”

Luccino shrugged off his lab coat.  “I suppose the old saw is true, if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.”

The cyborg detector on Alex’s belt started to chirp.  “Everybody get back, he’s a cyborg!”  She shouted at the team as Luccino wrenched the operating table free of its mooring and threw it any Alex and Maggie, causing them to dive for cover.

“Take him out!”  Vazquez ordered the strike team who opened fire.  Luccino crumpled to the floor and Alex signaled for the team to cease fire.  She advanced on his body with Maggie close behind.

“Alex, where’s the blood?”  Maggie asked.

Alex saw Luccino start to push himself off the floor.  “Maggie get back, it was a trap.”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t have made the improvements I gave Mr. Moore to myself as well?”  The strike team resumed firing at Luccino, but their weapons only slowed him down.  Alex put herself between Maggie and Luccino as they fell back towards the door.

Luccino picked up a cart and threw it at the agents behind him, forcing them back towards Alex and Maggie.  “I should thank-you for giving me the chance to field test my latest upgrades.”

“This could have gone better,” Maggie said to Alex.

“Supergirl, how’s it going out there?”  Alex asked into her radio.

Kara flew through the air and crashed into a wall.  She knocked rubble off of her shoulder and glared at Moore.  “He got upgrades, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Hurry up, Luccino gave himself the same upgrades.”

“Hang in there Alex, I’ll finish this guy off as quickly as I can.”

Inside the lab the fight had turned into a stalemate between Luccino and the team from the DEO.  Their weapons were capable of forcing him back, but not stopping him, and they were too well dug in around the room for him to escape.

“Give up Luccino, you can’t get out of here,” Alex shouted from her position behind an overturned desk.

“I would not be so sure of that if I was you,” Luccino said.  He raised his arm and energy started to form around his fingers.  

“Alex move,” Maggie yelled from behind a large filing cabinet when she saw Luccino pointing his arm in Alex’s direction.

Alex leapt out from behind the desk just as a blast of energy hit it, causing the desk to explode.  Alex rolled and came to a stop next to Maggie.  “This is an unfortunate development.”

“I hope Kara gets back here soon, or this could get more interesting than any of us wanted it to,” Maggie said.  They both dove to opposite sides of the filing cabinet they were hiding behind before it exploded.

Alex rolled into a crouch, drew her alien pistol and fired at Luccino.  The shot knocked him to his feet momentarily, but he recovered and pointed his arm at Alex.  “Well crap,” she said as she tensed to dodge his next attack.

Before Luccino was able to fire, a trio of small smoke bombs flew through the air and exploded in his face.  While Luccino coughed and tried to clear the air around him Barbara leapt over Alex and delivered a flying kick to his jaw.  The force of the impact knocked lucking backwards.  Barbara flipped around and swept Luccino’s legs out from under him.

“Great work Batgirl, but now what?”  Alex asked.

Barbara looked down at Luccino who was already starting to stir.  “You wouldn’t agree to run would you?”

Alex aimed her pistol at Luccino.  “That’s not how the DEO works.”

“In that case we are going to need Supergirl’s help.”  She leapt out of the way of another energy blast from Luccino.

“She’s busy, we need to solve this ourselves,” Alex said.  She fired at Luccino again with her pistol.  The powerful alien weapon staggered him, but he recovered.  He fired wildly at a pair of DEO agents, missing them, but the resulting explosion knocked them unconscious.

“Keep him occupied,” Barbara said.  “I have an idea.”  She ran towards a computer console on the other side of the room.

“No,” Luccino yelled.  “Get away from there.”  He raised his arm to fire, but the concentrated fire from the rearming DEO team forced him to retreat backwards.”

“Thanks for confirming this is valuable,” Barbara said.  She planted an explosive beatarang on the computer then dove for cover.  The computer exploded and everyone looked at Luccino to see what effect it had.

“I will kill you for that!”  Luccino yelled before charging at Barbara.  She leapt over him and landed next to Alex.

“Batgirl, that didn’t seem to do anything,” Agent Vazquez shouted.

“Sure it did,” Barbara said.  “Just give it a minute.”

An errant shot caused the wall behind them to explode.  “I’m not sure we have a minute,” Alex said.

There was a tremendous crash and the ceiling above Luccino caved in.  When the dust cleared Kara stood looking up at the taller scientist with her hands on her hips.  “Okay you, time to pick on someone your size.”  She punched Luccino and sent him flying into a wall.

Lucinno picked himself up off the floor.  Section of skin hung off his face, revealing the metal skeleton underneath.  “Not even you can stop me Supergirl.”

Kara grimaced when she saw Luccino’s face.  “Oh ew, how much of you is still human anyway?”

“Human, machine, it doesn’t matter where one ends and the other begins.”

“Okay so you’re crazy, I mean I thought that already, but still, good to know for sure,” Kara said.  Luccino fired an energy blast at Kara which staggered her, but didn’t knock her off her feet.  “Neat trick, I can do that too.”  Kara fired her heat vision at Luccino’s shoulder, severing his arm from his body.  Luccino yelled in surprise before Kara flew at him with her arm cocked back.  She delivered an uppercut straight to his jaw.  This time with enough for to remove his head from his body.  Kara watched in horror as it bounced along the floor of the lab, sparking wires stuck out of his neck as the rest of his body slumped to the ground.

“Wait, he was completely a robot?”  Alex asked as the team gathered around the decapitated body.

“That doesn’t make it better Alex,” Kara said.  “I knocked his head off.”

“If it makes you feel better, if he really was an AI jammed into a robot body then you didn’t kill him,” Barbara said.  “His processor is probably in his chest.”

Kara looked down at the still sparkling body.  “Maybe, but I’m not exactly proud of this.”

“That’s just proof you’re a good person,” Alex said.  She walked over to Kara and gave her a hug.  “Oh gross, is he leaking transmission fluid?”

‘Supregirl, what happened to the other cyborg?”  Maggie asked.

“It was the weirdest thing,” Kara said.  “One minute he was fighting me, and the next he tipped over like he’d been turned off.”

“I can explain that,” Barbara said.  She pointed at the ruined computer terminal.  “That computer controlled Moore.  When it blew up he lost guidance and shut down.  At least that was my theory and I’m glad to see I was right.”

“That was one hell of a guess,” Alex said.  “Vazquez, collect Dr. Luccino and Mr. Moore then transport them to the DEO.”

Vazquez looked down at the severed head.  “Do I have to?”

“Somebody does, and it isn’t going to be me,” Alex said.

“Oh for Pete’s sake,” Barbara said.  She reached down, picked up Luccino’s head, and walked out of the lab.  Leaving everyone else to look at each other in surprise.

“Did I just get called out?”  Alex asked Kara.

“I think you were,” Kara said.  “I’ll see you back at the DEO.  Good luck with the clean-up.”  She took off and flew through the hole she hand punched in the ceiling.

“I’ll take the feet, you take the, er, shoulders?”  Vazquez asked Alex.

“I’m the senior agent, I take the feet,” Alex said.  “I don’t want any of that goo to get on me.”

* * *

Several hours later the team gathered in the DEO command center.  “So what have we learned from Dr. Luccino?”  J’onn asked the group.

“That he wasn’t Anthony Luccino,” Winn said.  He keyed a command into his table and a picture of Luccino appeared on the main display.

“Uh yes, he was,” Kara said.  “Sure he might’ve used some cybernetics modifications on himself but…”

“No, Anthony Luccino really did die in that car crash.  WE had his coffin exhumed and he is the body in there.”

“Then whose head did I punch off?”

“That was a construct, a copy of Luccino,” Winn said.  “As best we can figure, Luccino saved a copy of his brain before he died, as kind of a backup plan I guess.”

“We found advanced automated fabrication equipment in the lab,” Alex said.  “Our best guess is that when he died the facility got to work recreating him.”

“So once again, what was that thing I punched the head off of?”  Kara asked.

“A digital ghost,” Winn said.  “A completely synthetic body programmed to continue Luccino’s work.”

“You didn’t kill someone is the bottom line Kara,” Alex said.

“Oh thank Rao,” Kara said.  “But if it had a copy of his brain wouldn’t his consciousness die when I broke the robot?”

“Digital is far more resilient than organic,” Winn said.  “We were able to download him from the android into a portable hard drive.  Don’t worry, we’re keeping it quarantined from our network.”

“The law hasn’t even been invented yet to handle this situation,” Maggie said.  “I suppose I’ll leave this mess in your hands, provided Winn promises to never let him out of that hard drive.”

“We will keep Dr. Luccino archived under lock and key,” J’onn said.  “As for Mr. Moore, we returned his body to his family for a proper burial.  Good work everyone.  Batgirl, thank-you for your help.  We couldn’t have done this without you.”

“I’m happy I could help,” Barbara said.  “If you’re ever in Gotham and need a hand let me know.”  She held out her hand to J’onn.

“We’ll be sure to do that,” J’onn said as he shook Barbara’s hand.

Barbara walked away from the table with Kara.  Alex followed them.  “Hey Batgirl, wait up a second.”

“I just fought a superpowered android.  I’m not really interested in another sparring session.”  Barbara said.  She and Kara came to stop on the balcony that overlooked National City.

“No, that’s not what I…look I just wanted to echo what J’onn said, and thank-you for your help the past few days.  I know I wasn’t the most pleasant person to be around, but you really came through for us and I wanted you to know that.”

“Like I told your boss, I’m happy I could be of assistance.”  Barbara inched herself closer to the edge of the balcony.

“See Alex, I told you Batgirl would be a big help,” Kara said.

Alex rolled her eyes.  “You did, and you were right, but that doesn’t mean I was wrong either.”

“No you weren’t,” Barbara said.  “You shouldn’t blindly trust someone who wears a mask.  Of course when someone you do trust vouches for her, maybe you should listen to her.”

Alex set her hands on her hips.  “And when that person has a history of being too trusting?”

“I am not!”  Kara said.

“We’ve been over this and yes you are” Alex said before returning her attention back to Barbara.  “You see what I have to deal with here?”

“Better you than me,” Barbara said.  “All that sunny optimism would wear me down day in and day out.”

“You have no idea,” Alex said.  “I love her but…”

“I’m standing right here you two,” Kara said.  

“You could be standing across town and still hear what we’re saying,” Alex said.  “It doesn’t really matter where you are.”

Kara scowled at Alex.  “That might technically be true, but it doesn’t mean I do that.  Besides you’re being rude.”

“How do you not spend all day needling her?”  Barbara asked.

“I can dropkick her into the sun,” Kara said.  “And she knows it.”

“That would do it,” Barbara said.  “Though maybe you shouldn’t go around threatening people like that.”

The stern expression on Kara’s face fell.  “Oh no, I would never actually hurt anyone for making fun of me.  That’s not who I am at all.”

Barbara reached over and patted Kara on the arm.  “Relax, we know you were joking.”

“Oh that’s good, there’s enough people convinced I’m one bad day from becoming a rage tyrant that I shouldn’t joke about it, but the opportunity was too good to pass up.”

“Kara, I am trying to apologize to your friend here,” Alex said.

“Oh well, I’ll just be over there then.”  Kara pointed to the spot on the balcony furthest away from Alex and Barbara.  “Not listening in.”  She walked away from Alex and Barbara, whistling as she went.

Barbara raised an eyebrow at Alex.  “So you’re trying to apologize?”

Alex shrugged her shoulders.  “I get why you feel the need to keep your identity hidden.  I don’t think it’s healthy in the long run, but I get it.”

“As apologies go that was remarkably tepid,” Barbara said.

“Perhaps, but I don’t think I was wrong either,” Alex said.  She crossed her arms in front of her.  “Mostly I feel insulted you don’t feel like you can share you identity with us, with me.”

“Sorry Agent Danvers, that’s information I only share with a very select group of people.”

“But it’s so obvious that you’re…” Alex paused.  “No that would be wrong for me to say wouldn’t it?”

“So you think you know, but you aren’t going to say anything?”

“Not until you tell me on your own terms,” Alex said.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Barbara said.  “And thank-you for keeping my secret.”  She aimed her grapple gun at the building across the street.

“Wait, I tell you all that and you still won’t tell me your name?”  Alex asked.  She held out her hands in protest.

“Of course not,” Barbara said.  “See you around Agent Danvers.”  She leapt off the building then fired the grapple gun to swing across the street.  Kara looked over at Alex and shrugged before she flew way from the balcony.

“Kara, your friend is a jerk,” Alex said to thin air before she spun on her heels and walked back into the DEO.

* * *

The next morning Kara landed in her living room after a patrol of the city and found Barbara packing her things.  “I’ve been meaning to ask, how did your conference go?”

Barbara looked up from the shirt she was folding.  “It went well, my presentation was well received and I got a lot of good feedback.”

“That’s good to hear.  I’m glad helping us out with Luccino didn’t hurt the real reason for your visit.”  Kara leaned against the wall.

“I didn’t get to attend as many cocktail parties as I wanted, but other than that I accomplished everything I wanted to when I came here.”

“That’s great,” Kara said.  “And I’m really sorry about Alex.  It’s the agent in her.  She can’t let a mystery rest.”

“It’s okay Kara, I did worse to you when you were in Gotham,” Barbara said.  “I can handle your sister.”

“Still, I’d hate for you to think I’m a bad host,” Kara said.  She cocked her head to one side.  “Hold that thought, Alex is here.” Kara dashed out of the room.  She changed out of her costume and came to a stop in front of the apartment door.  She opened the door before Alex had a chance to knock.

“I hate it when you do that,” Alex said.  She was wearing her usual leather jacket and jeans.

“Hello to you too,” Kara said.  “What brings you here?”

“I wanted to say goodbye to your friend Barbara,” Alex said.  She walked past Kara into the apartment.  “She leaves today right?”

“Yep, she’s packing right now in fact.”  Kara closed the apartment door.  “She had a very successful conference, thanks for asking.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed.  “A successful conference, right.”

“It’s true, I wrote a story for CatCo about her poster session and everything,” Kara said.

“If you insist,” Alex said.

Kara opened her mouth to continue to rebut Alex but she was interrupted by Barbara entering the room.  “Alex, what a pleasant surprise,”: Barbara said.  She walked over to Alex and gave her a hug.  “I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to hang out more while I was in town.”

“Like I told Kara, I wanted to come over and say goodbye before you left for Gotham.”

“That’s awfully sweet of you,” Barbara said.

“It’s the least I could do for a friend of Kara’s,” Alex said.  “When does you flight leave?”

Barbara looked over at the clock on the wall.  “Not for another few hours, I have plenty of time.”

“And how are you getting to the airport?  Don’t tell me Kara is going to take you.”

Barbara looked between the two sisters.  “Why shouldn’t she?”

“Alex, no,” Kara said.

“The thing is, we all love Kara, obviously, but nobody who knows her lets her take them anywhere.  It’s a terrifying experience.  We only do it in cases of extreme emergency, like aliens are invading end of the world extreme.”

“What?  Why is this the first time I’ve ever heard this?”  Kara asked Alex.

“Because we’re all too polite to say anything to your face about it,” Alex said.  “Haven’t you ever wondered why we always have excuses when you ask us if we want you to take us somewhere?”

“I, I just thought you were all well prepared,” Kara said.  “It didn’t even occur to me that there might be some other reason.”  She sagged against her dining room table.

Alex leaned over to hug Kara.  “Cheer up, we all still love you, and definitely trust you with watering our plants.”

“Of course, if nobody waters them then they’ll die and that would be so sad,” Kara said to Alex

Alex and Barbara both rolled their eyes.  “Of course you would feel empathy for a plant,” Barbara said.

“You don’t?”  Kara asked.

“I’ve, er, had some bad experiences with plants,” Barbara said.  She rubbed her left arm to massage away a remembered pain.

“Well I think plants are great,” Kara said.  “And I also think I am a great diver, and Alex is telling you lies.”

“Barbara, how did you get here from the airport when you got into town?”  Alex asked.  “You got a ride from Kara because you didn’t know any better, am I right?”

Barbara nodded her head.  “I did.”

“And?”

“I’m sorry Kara, but I already ordered myself an Uber,” Barbara said.  “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but…”

“Barbara, I’m very hurt, and there’s only one thing you can do to make up for this betrayal,” Kara said.

“Of course, what, anything, except for you taking me to the airport of course.”

“Be sure to visit again soon,” Kara said before hugging Barbara.

“Only if you find your way back to Gotham.”

Kara smiled.  “Of course, I can always find time to visit a friend.”

“The same goes for you Alex.  If you’re ever in Gotham there’s always room on my couch in Burnside.”

Alex held up her hands.  “Thanks, but I’m swamped at work at the moment.”

“Well the offer still stand.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”  Alex said.  She gave Barbara another hug.  “I have to get back to the office.  Have a safe trip home.”

“I’ll try, thank-you.  It was nice to meet you Alex,” Barbara said.

“The feeling is mutual,” Alex said.  “I’m just glad to see my sister is making friends.”  She waved goodbye then walked out of the apartment.

“You really need to tell her the truth,” Kara said to Barbara.  “She’s obviously figured it out on her own.”

“I’ll think about it,” Barbara said.  “But right now I’m more interested in keeping the circle of people who know small, and it’s already grown more than I’m comfortable with on this trip.”

“It’s important to have a side of your life that isn’t always punching bad guys, I get that,” Kara said.  “But forget that for right now.  Babs, I have one last question before you go.”

“Which is?”

“Do you even need me to ask?  Is my flying really that scary?”  Kara wrung her hands together as she waited for a reply.

Before Barbara could open her mouth to reply, her cellphone buzzed.  “Would you look at that, my ride’s here,” she said after glancing at her phone.

“That’s convenient,” Kara said.

Barbara rubbed Kara’s arm.  “Sorry Kara, you’re an amazing friend, and thank-you so much for the hospitality.”

Kara pulled Barbara in for a hug.  “It was so much fun to hang out with you again.  You’ll call me when you get home?”

“Yes mom,” Barbara said.  “And you’ll let me know if there are any chances on the Mon-El front?”

“That’s what friend do,” Kara said.  Barbara gathered up her luggage and slipped out the door with one last wave to Kara.

* * *

Onboard her flight to Gotham Barbara folded down her tray table when the pilot announced they were at cruising altitude.  She was about to start typing on her laptop when she heard a tapping sound on her window.  She looked outside the plane and saw Kara flying alongside in full costume.  She waved at Barbara who returned the wave then watched as Kara banked and dove away from the plane, plunging into the clouds and out of sight.  Barbara chuckled to herself before returning to her school work.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's Synthetica, I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Confession time, the villain was originally intended to be pre-New 52 Supergirl comic villain Alphonse Luzano, except to my utter dismay Supergirl has already used Alphonse Luzano as a character on the show. This caused me to swear a great deal and have to do a lot of find and replace. In other news, my next story, So We Can Stay Alive, continues to inch closer to completion, and the next chapter is still on target to be released late November. Thanks again for reading.  
> -sam, 2017-10-22


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